A 6-year-old boy walking across the
street is struck by the front bumper of
a sports utility vehicle traveling at 32
kph (20 mph). Which one of the
following statements is TRUE about
this patient?
direct pressure on the wound
A 7-year-old boy is brought to the
emergency department by his parents
several minutes after he fell through a
window. He is bleeding profusely
from a 6-cm wound of his medial
right thigh. Immediate management
of the wound should consist of:
, perform needle or finger decompression of the right chest
A 20-year-old woman who is at 32
weeks gestation, is stabbed in the
upper right chest. In the emergency
department, her blood pressure is
80/60 mm Hg. She is gasping for
breath, extremely anxious, and yelling
for help. Breath sounds are
diminished in the right chest. The
most appropriate first step is to:
prepare for an exploratory thoracotomy
A 22-year-old female athlete is
stabbed in her left chest at the third
interspace in the anterior axillary line.
On admission to the emergency
department and 15 minutes after the
incident, she is awake and alert. Her
heart rate is 100 beats per minute,
blood pressure 80/60 mm Hg, and
respiratory rate 20 breaths per minute.
A chest x-ray reveals a large left
hemothorax. A left chest tube is
placed with an immediate return of
1600 mL of blood. The next
management step for this patient is:
, re-examine the chest
A 22-year-old man is hypotensive and
tachycardic after a shotgun wound to
the left shoulder. His blood pressure is
initially 80/40 mm Hg. After initial
fluid resuscitation his blood pressure
increases to 122/84 mm Hg. His heart
rate is now 100 beats per minute and
his respiratory rate is 28 breaths per
minute. A tube thoracostomy is
performed for decreased left chest
breath sounds with the return of a
small amount of blood and no air
leak. After chest tube insertion, the
most appropriate next step is: