As prepared by Chris Nickson, here are the practice questions from the last written exam practice session at The Alfred ICU, with recommended reading from Lifeinthefastlane.com’s Critical Care Compendium and other FOAM sources:
Q1.
1.1 (35%)
A 65 year-old male has a MET call for chest pain with hypotension. What are the important findings on the ECG and what is the likely diagnosis.
1.2 (35%)
You are asked to review a 25 year-old male in the ED. He presented with hypotension following a syncopal event. What are the important findings on the ECG and what is the likely diagnosis.
1.3 (30%)
In the following stroke patients, localise the lesion based on the clinical presentation:
Patient A
- left-sided limb ataxia
- left-sided alteration of pain and temperature on the face
- left-sided ipsilateral Homer’s syndrome
- right-sided alteration of pain and temperature affecting the arm and leg
- dysarthria and decreased gag reflex on the left, with the palate pulling up on the right-side
Patient B
- failure of adduction past the midline (movement towards the nose) of the left eye and leading eye (right) nystagmus on looking laterally to the right
- Normal eye movements on looking to the left
- There is no hemiparesis and further examination is unremarkable.
Patient C
- right-sided Horner’s syndrome
- right-sided limb ataxia
- left-sided total loss of sensation affecting the arm and leg
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Q2.
Critically evaluate the role of protective lung ventilation in mechanically ventilated patients.
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Q3.
Regarding Ludwig’s angina:
- List 4 important bacterial causes (20%)
- List 4 important risk factors (20%)
- Outline your approach to the management of a 50 year-old man with Ludwig’s angina who has trismus, stridor and cannot swallow his own saliva. (60%)
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You can access all the previous practice questions since 2014 here:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1_Ta8IvVaVtc5Il7-kJwj6qKGu54OmifJGRUWCXud8dY/edit
See this link on INTENSIVE for exam resources:
https://intensiveblog.com/resources/#3