GASTROINTESTINAL SYSTEM
DISORDERS Practice Exam #7 -
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS WITH RATIONALES
2023/2024
GRADED A+ NEW
1. Question
Radiation therapy is used to treat colon cancer before surgery for which of the
following reasons?
A. Reducing the size of the tumor.
B. Eliminating the malignant cells.
C. Curing cancer.
D. Helping the bowel heal after surgery.
Correct Answer: A. Reducing the size of the tumor
Radiation therapy is used to treat colon cancer before surgery to reduce the size of the
tumor, making it easier to be resected. Radiation therapy is a treatment using
high-energy rays (such as x-rays) or particles to destroy cancer cells. For some colon
and rectal cancers, treating with chemotherapy at the same time can make radiation
therapy work better. Using these 2 treatments together is called chemoradiation.
Option B: Radiation therapy can’t eliminate the malignant cells (though it helps define
tumor margins). Radiation therapy, often with chemotherapy, is frequently used in the
adjuvant or neoadjuvant setting for the treatment of rectal cancers, whereas
chemotherapy alone is more common for the adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatment of
colon cancers.
,Option C: Radiation therapy isn’t curative. The progress that has been made in the
treatment of colon cancer has resulted from improved development of radiation
treatments and surgical techniques and participation in clinical trials.
Option D: Radiation therapy could slow postoperative healing. It’s not common to use
radiation therapy to treat colon cancer, but it may be used after surgery if cancer has
attached to an internal organ or the lining of the belly (abdomen). If this happens, the
surgeon can’t be sure that all of cancer has been removed. Radiation therapy may be
used to try to kill any cancer cells that may have been left behind.
2. Question
Which of the following symptoms is a client with colon cancer most likely to
exhibit?
A. A change in appetite.
B. A change in bowel habits.
C. An increase in body weight.
D. An increase in body temperature.
Correct Answer: B. A change in bowel habits.
The most common complaint of the client with colon cancer is a change in bowel habits.
Tumor location on the clinical presentation can be separated on left-sided with more
changes in bowel habits and hematochezia, and right-sided with obscured anemia
impacting on late-stage at diagnosis.
Option A: The client may have anorexia, secondary abdominal distention. The provider
should perform a thorough physical examination for signs of ascites, hepatomegaly, and
lymphadenopathy. Comprehensive family history is of great relevance to identify familial
clusters and inherent patterns that would alter surveillance and therapy on the high-risk
patient.
Option C: The client may have weight loss. Late presentation with metastatic disease at
diagnosis will depend on the symptoms at the organ affected by the route of spread; to
the liver via the portal system, to lungs via the inferior vena cava, to supraclavicular
adenopathy via lymphatic or to neighbor structures by contiguous invasion.
Option D: Fever isn’t associated with colon cancer. Diagnostic colonoscopy’s triggers
are blood per rectum (37%), abdominal pain (34%), and anemia (23%). The most
common indications of emergency surgery are obstruction (57%), peritonitis (25%), and
perforation (18%).
, 3. Question
A client has just had surgery for colon cancer. Which of the following disorders
might the client develop?
A. Peritonitis
B. Diverticulosis
C. Partial bowel obstruction
D. Complete bowel obstruction
Correct Answer: A. Peritonitis
Bowel spillage could occur during surgery, resulting in peritonitis. Intestinal perforations
occur most commonly in CRC and in diverticular disease. They are seen less often in
other diseases of the colon (ulcerative colitis, Lesniowski-Crohn disease), abdominal
trauma therein iatrogenic (complications after surgery, after endoscopic examination, or
after radiation therapy), colonic ischemia, and necrosis.
Option B: Diverticulosis doesn’t result from surgery or colon cancer. Diverticulosis is a
clinical condition in which multiple sac-like protrusions (diverticula) develop along the
gastrointestinal tract. Though diverticula may form at weak points in the walls of either
the small or large intestines, the majority occur in the large intestine (most commonly
the sigmoid colon).
Option C: Partial bowel obstruction may occur before bowel resection. Acute colonic
obstruction produces a dilated bowel with a large amount of fecal loading that is
proximal to the blockage and is associated with bacterial overgrowth and impairment of
blood flow.
Option D: Complete bowel obstruction may occur before bowel resection. Colorectal
cancer is the single most common cause of large intestinal obstruction. Approximately
2% to 5% of colorectal cancer patients have an obstruction. Cancer arising in the
rectum or left colon is more likely to obstruct than cancer arising in the proximal colon.
4. Question
A client with gastric cancer may exhibit which of the following symptoms?
A. Abdominal cramping
B. Constant hunger
C. Feeling of fullness
D. Weight gain
Correct Answer: C. Feeling of fullness
DISORDERS Practice Exam #7 -
QUESTIONS AND CORRECT
ANSWERS WITH RATIONALES
2023/2024
GRADED A+ NEW
1. Question
Radiation therapy is used to treat colon cancer before surgery for which of the
following reasons?
A. Reducing the size of the tumor.
B. Eliminating the malignant cells.
C. Curing cancer.
D. Helping the bowel heal after surgery.
Correct Answer: A. Reducing the size of the tumor
Radiation therapy is used to treat colon cancer before surgery to reduce the size of the
tumor, making it easier to be resected. Radiation therapy is a treatment using
high-energy rays (such as x-rays) or particles to destroy cancer cells. For some colon
and rectal cancers, treating with chemotherapy at the same time can make radiation
therapy work better. Using these 2 treatments together is called chemoradiation.
Option B: Radiation therapy can’t eliminate the malignant cells (though it helps define
tumor margins). Radiation therapy, often with chemotherapy, is frequently used in the
adjuvant or neoadjuvant setting for the treatment of rectal cancers, whereas
chemotherapy alone is more common for the adjuvant and neoadjuvant treatment of
colon cancers.
,Option C: Radiation therapy isn’t curative. The progress that has been made in the
treatment of colon cancer has resulted from improved development of radiation
treatments and surgical techniques and participation in clinical trials.
Option D: Radiation therapy could slow postoperative healing. It’s not common to use
radiation therapy to treat colon cancer, but it may be used after surgery if cancer has
attached to an internal organ or the lining of the belly (abdomen). If this happens, the
surgeon can’t be sure that all of cancer has been removed. Radiation therapy may be
used to try to kill any cancer cells that may have been left behind.
2. Question
Which of the following symptoms is a client with colon cancer most likely to
exhibit?
A. A change in appetite.
B. A change in bowel habits.
C. An increase in body weight.
D. An increase in body temperature.
Correct Answer: B. A change in bowel habits.
The most common complaint of the client with colon cancer is a change in bowel habits.
Tumor location on the clinical presentation can be separated on left-sided with more
changes in bowel habits and hematochezia, and right-sided with obscured anemia
impacting on late-stage at diagnosis.
Option A: The client may have anorexia, secondary abdominal distention. The provider
should perform a thorough physical examination for signs of ascites, hepatomegaly, and
lymphadenopathy. Comprehensive family history is of great relevance to identify familial
clusters and inherent patterns that would alter surveillance and therapy on the high-risk
patient.
Option C: The client may have weight loss. Late presentation with metastatic disease at
diagnosis will depend on the symptoms at the organ affected by the route of spread; to
the liver via the portal system, to lungs via the inferior vena cava, to supraclavicular
adenopathy via lymphatic or to neighbor structures by contiguous invasion.
Option D: Fever isn’t associated with colon cancer. Diagnostic colonoscopy’s triggers
are blood per rectum (37%), abdominal pain (34%), and anemia (23%). The most
common indications of emergency surgery are obstruction (57%), peritonitis (25%), and
perforation (18%).
, 3. Question
A client has just had surgery for colon cancer. Which of the following disorders
might the client develop?
A. Peritonitis
B. Diverticulosis
C. Partial bowel obstruction
D. Complete bowel obstruction
Correct Answer: A. Peritonitis
Bowel spillage could occur during surgery, resulting in peritonitis. Intestinal perforations
occur most commonly in CRC and in diverticular disease. They are seen less often in
other diseases of the colon (ulcerative colitis, Lesniowski-Crohn disease), abdominal
trauma therein iatrogenic (complications after surgery, after endoscopic examination, or
after radiation therapy), colonic ischemia, and necrosis.
Option B: Diverticulosis doesn’t result from surgery or colon cancer. Diverticulosis is a
clinical condition in which multiple sac-like protrusions (diverticula) develop along the
gastrointestinal tract. Though diverticula may form at weak points in the walls of either
the small or large intestines, the majority occur in the large intestine (most commonly
the sigmoid colon).
Option C: Partial bowel obstruction may occur before bowel resection. Acute colonic
obstruction produces a dilated bowel with a large amount of fecal loading that is
proximal to the blockage and is associated with bacterial overgrowth and impairment of
blood flow.
Option D: Complete bowel obstruction may occur before bowel resection. Colorectal
cancer is the single most common cause of large intestinal obstruction. Approximately
2% to 5% of colorectal cancer patients have an obstruction. Cancer arising in the
rectum or left colon is more likely to obstruct than cancer arising in the proximal colon.
4. Question
A client with gastric cancer may exhibit which of the following symptoms?
A. Abdominal cramping
B. Constant hunger
C. Feeling of fullness
D. Weight gain
Correct Answer: C. Feeling of fullness
