Brainscape's Knowledge GenomeTM

Browse over 1 million classes created by top students, professors, publishers, and experts.


See full index

Surgical skills > Hemostasis > Flashcards

Hemostasis Flashcards

1
Q

What is hemostasis?

A

spontaneous physiological defense mechanism to stop hemorrhage

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
2
Q

What does hemostasis depend on?

A

vascular, extravascular and intravascular factors

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
3
Q

What is the end product of hemostasis?

A

an effective thrombus

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
4
Q

What is surgical hemostasis used for?

A

used to augment, faility or bypass physiological clotting

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
5
Q

What is the goal of surgical hemostasis?

A

to reduce blood loss and resultant complications

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
6
Q

What are 4 issues with surgical bleeding?

A
  1. obscures surgical field, reducing accuracy and efficiency
  2. blood on field, gloves, drapes, instruments is ideal medium for bacterial growth
  3. extravated blood has negative effects on body
  4. severe or prolonged hemorrhage may result in shock, hypoxemia, death
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
7
Q

What are the problems caused by extravasated blood in the body?

A
  1. irritates tissues
  2. prevents coaptation of wound edges
  3. delays healing
  4. encourages infection
  5. promotes intraabdominal adhesions
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
8
Q

What is primary hemorrhage?

A

occurs immediately after disruption of blood vessels

occurs during surgical dissection

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
9
Q

How do you minimize primary hemorrhage?

A

know anatomy–ligate vessels
traverse one tissue plane at a time
apply tension in tissue handling?

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
10
Q

What is delayed hemorrhage?

A

(intermediate) within 24 hours of injury

(secondary) >24 hours of injury

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
11
Q

What is delayed hemorrhage often caused by?

A

often caused by ineffective treatment of primary hemorrhage

  1. slipped ligatures
  2. necrosis of ligated or cauterised vessels
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
12
Q

What is the use of hemostatic forceps?

A

can be used to clamp vessels that will not be repaired. crushing the vessel stops hemorrhage and damages vessel wall, activating clotting.
only for small vessels

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
13
Q

What hemostatic forcep is used for a wound?

A
  1. smallest forceps capable of achieving hemostasis

2. curved hemostats improve visibility

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
14
Q

How do you apply hemostatic forceps to stop bleeding?

A
  1. grip in dominant hand with wide based tripod grip
  2. small superficial bleeders point the tip towards the vessels
  3. for deep bleeders, large vessels or pedicles apply hemostasis with convex surface facing end of vessel
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
15
Q

How do you apply hemostatic forceps to stop bleeding?

A
  1. grip in dominant hand with wide based tripod grip
  2. small superficial bleeders point the tip towards the vessels
  3. for deep bleeders, large vessels or pedicles apply hemostasis with convex surface facing end of vessel
  4. for large vessels use jaw rather than tip
  5. for large pedicles clamped with a carmalt or similar to minimize slippage
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
16
Q

What are the most secure methods for hemostasis?

A

vascular clips and ligatures

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
17
Q

What is an advantage of vascular clips and ligatures?

A

they are less likely to slip than a clot is to be dislodged

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
18
Q

What is a disadvantage of vascular clips and ligatures?

A

foreign material is left in the wound

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
19
Q

How do you apply vascular clips?

A
  1. dissect vessel free from the surrounding tissue
  2. diameter of vessel between 1/3-2/3 the length of the clip
  3. apply several mm from cut end of vessel
  4. clip artery and vein separately
How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
20
Q

What are the advantages of vascular clips?

A
  1. can be placed more rapidly than ligatures

2. good for poorly accessible locations

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
21
Q

What is a disadvantage of vascular clips?

A

more likely to be dislodged during surgical manipulation

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
22
Q

What is the most commonly used method of hemostasis?

A

ligatures

How well did you know this?
1
Not at all
2
3
4
5
Perfectly
23
Q

What are the advantages of ligatures?

A
  1. more secure than hemostatic clips
  2. better suited for occlusion of multiple vessels and vascular pedicles
  3. for large vessels the increased security outweighs the application time
24
Q

What is a disadvantage of ligature?

A

take longer to apply

25
Q

What is a disadvantage of ligature?

A

take longer to apply

26
Q

What is the advantage of a square knot (ligature)

A

least likely to loosen (unless half hitch)

27
Q

What is the advantage of surgeon knot?

A

used for large pedicles if cannot adequately tighten a square knot (apply square knot over top)

28
Q

What material should not be used with a surgeon’s knot?

A

chromic gut because friction causes fraying at the knot

29
Q

What are two ways you can tie ligatures?

A

hand or instrument ties

30
Q

What is recommended for large vessels with regards to applying ligatures?

A

use double ligatures

31
Q

What are tansfixation ligatures less prone to?

32
Q

What suture size should be used for ligatures?

A

3-0 for isolated vessels, maximum 0 for pedicles

33
Q

Why should ligatures be adequately tightened?

A

because inadequate tightening leads to bulky and less secure knotes

34
Q

What should be the tail length of ligatures for synthetic sutures?

35
Q

What is cautery performed on?

A

arteries up to 1mm and veins up to 2mm

36
Q

What is used for cautery?

A

radiofrequency from an electrosurgical unit

37
Q

How does cautery work?

A

heat is produced by tissue resistance to current, electrical energy is absorbed and converted to thermal energy

38
Q

What is a monopolar cautery?

A

there if flow from handpeice through the patient to a ground plate
the current enters a small volume of tissue and exits a large volume of tissue to avoid burns

39
Q

What can monpolar cautery do besides cut?

40
Q

What are two ways you can apply monopolar cautery?

A
  1. directly onto a vessel

2. indirectly onto forceps holding the vessel (less collateral damage)

41
Q

What must you remember when usingmonopolar cautery?

A
  1. only contact at point of coagulation
  2. use minimum intensity and time necessary
  3. dry first
  4. there is a risk of distant burns if take alternative path to ground plate
  5. need dry area
42
Q

What are the featuers of bipolar cautery?

A
  1. the current passes between arms when the tips are ~1mm apart
  2. no need for ground plate
  3. need electrolyte fluid between tips
  4. if tips touch the current shorts–no coagulation
43
Q

What are the advantages of bipolar cautery?

A
  1. less current needed
  2. less risk of injury to surrounding tissue
  3. no pathway of burns of distant tissues
  4. works well in wet field
  5. useful for fine vessels needing precise coagulation
44
Q

What are the advantages of bipolar cautery?

A
  1. less current needed
  2. less risk of injury to surrounding tissue
  3. no pathway of burns of distant tissues
  4. works well in wet field
  5. useful for fine vessels needing precise coagulation
45
Q

What is an advantage of cautery?

A

properly used it provides rapid definitive hemostasis

46
Q

What is a disadvantage of cautery

A

less secure ligation

47
Q

improper use of cautery can cause what?

A
  1. secondary hemorrhage
  2. severe burns
  3. delayed wound healing
  4. increased infection rates
  5. fires and explosions
48
Q

What is ligasure?

A

bipolar vessel sealing device

49
Q

How does ligasure work?

A

The machine measures the bioimpedence of the current through the tissue and adjusts the current to seal the vessels
proteins denatured and reforms into a sealed end

50
Q

Where/when can ligasure be used?

A
  1. on vessels up to 7mm

2. with laparascopy, thoracoscopy

51
Q

What is a topical hemostatic agent?

52
Q

What are topical hemostatic agents (e.g. gelfoam) used for?

A

diffuse low level bleeding that is not amenable to other methods of hemostasis (cancellous bone, liver biopsy)

53
Q

What are 4 types of topical hemostatic agents?

A
  1. fibrin adhesives
  2. oxidised cellulose
  3. microfibrillar collagen sponges
  4. gelatin sponges
54
Q

What can topical hemostatic agents be combined with?

55
Q

Why should you use the minimum amount of topical hemostatic agents?

A

because they can potentiate infection

56
Q

What is bone wax used for?

A
  1. to control bleeding form cancellous bone especially in neurological surgery, mandible
57
Q

Why must you only use bone wax in clean wounds

A

because it persists from several years and impedes clearance of bacteria

Surgical skills (23 decks)

Brainscape helps you reach your goals faster, through stronger study habits.
© 2025 Bold Learning Solutions. Terms and Conditions