Surgery and Perioperative Care

9 free practice questions shared by students. Answer them right here — no account needed.

Practise theseOne at a time, in a random order, with the explanation after each.

A 68-year-old man who smokes 20 cigarettes a day has an ultrasound of the abdomen for vague right upper quadrant discomfort. The gallbladder is normal, but the…

Clinical rotations · common

A 72-year-old woman with atrial fibrillation who stopped her anticoagulant six months ago after a nosebleed wakes at 3 am with sudden severe pain in her left le…

Pre-internship · middle twist

A 62-year-old woman with type 2 diabetes is booked for an elective laparoscopic right hemicolectomy for a caecal cancer in one week. She will be fasting from mi…

Pre-internship · niche

A 13-year-old boy with obesity has had aching pain in his left knee for three weeks. He suddenly develops severe groin pain while rising from a chair and cannot…

Clinical rotations · common

A 79-year-old woman falls at home and develops groin pain. Pelvic and hip radiographs show no fracture, but after analgesia she still cannot take four steps and…

Clinical rotations · middle twist

A 45-year-old man presents after four days of worsening right lower quadrant pain, fever and anorexia. Examination finds a tender, relatively fixed mass in the…

Clinical rotations · middle twist

A 24-year-old woman presents with 12 hours of abdominal pain, nausea and anorexia. The pain began around the umbilicus and is now most severe in the right iliac…

Clinical rotations · common

A 66-year-old man is five days after an ultra-low anterior resection for rectal cancer and had initially been recovering well. Overnight he developed an irregul…

Clinical rotations · common

A 22-year-old woman presents to the emergency department with 24 hours of lower abdominal pain that began around the umbilicus and is now most marked on the rig…

Clinical rotations · middle twist