Surgery Flashcards
How long should skin-soap contact last during surgical hand scrubbing?
5 min OR 10-25 brush strokes on each skin surface
How does a sterilization strip in a surgical pack indicate whether the contents are sterilized and ready for use?
A sterilization strip changes color to indicate a pack is sterile
What is surgical wound dehiscence?
Layers of the incision (or wound) have separated
Which suture size is most appropriate to close a rumenotomy in an adult cow?
2
What is the range of suture sizes?
11-0 (finest) to 7 (heaviest)
Which foreceps are particularly good for vascular surgery?
Debakey vascular thumb foreceps. They have multiple delicate teeth and are good for vascular surgery.
What are Brown-Adson forceps used for?
Having intermeshing teeth, they are used for suturing and wound closure.
What are rate tooth forceps used for?
Also known as adson tissue forceps 1x2, they have interlocking teeth and are used for tough connective tissue and fascia
What are Russian thumb forceps used for?
Needle handling; hard on tissues
What are Allis tissue forceps used for?
Long handled instruments used to retract tissues
What does strike-through refer to in surgery?
When a gown or drape becomes completely soaked through with blood or saline
A client would like to schedule suture removal for her dog.
How long after the sutures were placed should it be scheduled?
10-14 days
What is a general purpose suction tip useful for multiple surgical situations?
The Yankauer suction tip.
Used commonly in thoracic and abdominal surgeries. Does not have a protective sleeve so it can clog during aspiration.
What should a surgeon do before starting a surgical scrub of hands and arms?
Before scrubbing, a surgeon puts on a cap, mask and foot covers
When does the maturation phase of wound healing occur?
The naturation (or remodeling) phase of wound healing starts approximately 3 weeks after the initial injury and may continue for many months
What type of head covering should a veterinary surgeon with a full beard use?
Men with full beards or extensive sideburns should wear a surgical hood to cover all facial hair during sterile procedures
What would be the most appropriate way to sterilize an endoscope?
Endoscopes should be sterilized using glutaraldehyde
What is the purpose of trephine?
A trephine is a hollow T-shaped metal surgical instrument with a sharpened end designed to remove a circular core of tissues (e.g., bone skin, cornea).
What is the purpose of Gigli wire?
Gigli wire is a flexible wire saw for bone
What is meant by the term “acute abdomen”?
A sudden onset of clinical signs attributed to the abdomen. May or may not be surgical.
What tool is this?
Senn manual hand retractor
During surgery, place which part of a sharp instrument into the surgeon’s palm?
Place the handle of a sharp instrument into the surgeon’s hand
When does the proliferative phase of wound healing occur after injury?
Proliferation is the second phase of wound healing and occurs 2-3 days after initial injury
What are the phases of wound healing?
Inflammatory, proliferative, and maturation
What is an ovariohysterectomy?
The removal of ovaries and uterus
What does the suffix “-ectomy” refer to?
The surgical removal of something
Which suture material is made of polypropylene?
Prolene
A surgical gown should always be folded so which part is at the top of the sterilization package?
Neck ties
What condition in horses is treated with Caslick’s operation (vulvoplasty)
Pneumovagina
What is pneumovagina?
Intermittent or continuous presence of air in the vagina
What is a surgeon doing when performing an anastomosis?
Suturing peices of the GI tract together
What best describes the process of repairing a dirty and traumatized wound by second intention?
Second intention healing is used for dirty, traumatized wounds, where the injury is cleaned and allowed to contract and epithelialized on its own until closed
What is the best description for surgical gut?
Absorbable nonsynthetic suture material
An inverting suture patterm is indicated to close what in a cat?
Stomach
The vet has asked you to prepare for a pyometra surgery on a seven-year-old intact female schnauzer.
What is to be removed from the dog?
Uterus
What is a pyometra?
A pus-filled uterus
What is removed during an orchidectomy?
Testicles
Where is the best place to start a surgical scrub?
At the site of the proposed incision, working outward only, in concentric circles
What is scrotal ablation?
Removal of the testicles and scrotum
Which forceps are most appropriate to hold delicate tissues?
Babcock and Doyen tissue foreceps
What is a rumenotomy?
An incision into the rumen of a cow, sheep, or goat
When should sponges used during surgery be counted?
Before the incision is closed
Which suction tip allows for finger control of suction and is especially useful in neurologic and orthopedic surgeries?
Frazier tip
The Frazier tip is most often used for neurologic and orthopedic surgeries, during which bleeding is not as severe as with abdominal surgeries
What is a laparotomy?
An incision into the abdominal cavity
What does surgical milk do?
Lubricates instruments and inhibits rust; used on surgical instruments with a working action
What instrument is used to cut or bite away small pieces of bone?
A rongeur is used to break-up and remove bone
What is the purpose of a curette?
A curette is a tiny, sharp ice-cream scooper, used to scrape hard tissues like bone or cartilage
Which of the following suture sizes would be most appropriate to suture the cornea of a cat?
A. #4
B. 6-0
C. #7
D. 2-0
E. 0-0
B. 6-0
Suture sizes range from 10-0 (finest, 0.02 mm diameter) to #7 (heaviest, 0.9 mm diameter).
Where is an umbilical hernia located?
Ventral midline of the abdomen
An umbilical hernia is when tissue protudes through a defect in the muscle wall at the location where the umbilicus entered the body prenatally along the ventral abdominal midline
What is the purpose of a Jacobs chuck?
A Jacobs chuck is a handle with a drill bit head, used to grip and place intramedullary bone pins when fixing broken bones
Which choice best describes the process of repairing a clean wound within a few hours of injury by first intention?
A. Suture within 6-8 hours
B. Allow wound to contract and epithelialize
C. Application of a tissue graft
D. Let wound granulate closed
E. Step-wise closure
A. Suture within 6-8 hours
First intention healing (also called appositional healing or primary wound closure) means you suture up a fresh, clean wound within 6-8 hours of injury
Which of the following choices includes three examples of NON-absorbable sutures?
A. Maxon, Vetafil, Prolene
B. Silk, Prolene, Ethilon
C. Vetafil, gut, nylon
D. Dexon, Vicryl, PDS
E. Stainless steel, PDS, cotton
B. Silk, Prolene and Ethilon
What is the most accurate difference between povidone-iodine and chlorhexidine antiseptic agents?
Povidone-iodine causes acute contact dermatitis in up to 50% of dogs and can also cause skin problems for vet staff
What surgery is commonly performed on male cats with urolithiasis?
Perineal urethrostomy
A perineal urethrostomy is a surgery to make an opening in the urethra at the perineum of blocked male cats to allow them to urinate
What size clipper blade is typically used for a surgical clip?
40
What is the correct order for presurgical preparation of personnel?
Hair cap, facemask, handscrub, gown, gloves
What is an advantage of using suture material swaged onto the needle?
Less traumatic to the tissues
Where, anatomically, is the typical incision for an orchidectomy in a dog?
In a dog, a typical orchidectomy incision is cranial to the scrotum, in the prescrotal area
The vet has asked you to prepare for a perineal urethrostomy surgery on a four-year-old male cat.
What kind of problem does the cat most likely have to necessitate this surgery?
Urolithiasis (bladder stones or crystals)
How should an assistant open a surgical pack set on a surgical table or Mayo stand?
Each corner individually without reaching over the pack
Which choice is a method of physical sterilization?
A. 5% bleach solution
B. Heat
C. Desiccation
D. Humidification
E. 4% chlorhexidine for 10 minutes
B. Heat
The 3 most common methods of physical sterilization are heat (most common), filtration, and radiation
Which scissors are best to use for bandage removal?
Lister bandage scissors have
Which of the following solutions is recommended for surgical scrub of a patient?
A. Hydrogen peroxide
B. Glutaraldehyde
C. Chlorhexidine
D. Peracetic acid
E. Sodium hypochlorite
C. Chlorhexidine
Use chlorhexidine or povidone-iodine solution for skin preparation of a surgical patient
What is a common break in aseptic technique during small animal surgery?
Anesthetist reaching over the sterile feild
What is a celiotomy?
An incision into the abdomen (also called a Laparotomy)
Which choice is best for use as a lavage solution?
A. Isotonic, 0.5% glucose
B. 0.05% chlorhexidine in saline
C. Slightly acidic, hypotonic
D. Neutral, hypertonic, 0.1% tetracycline
E. Neutral, isotonic
D. Neutral, hypertonic, 0.1% tetracycline
What best describes a Penrose drain?
Thin latex rubber, floppy tube used as a passive drain
Cryptochidectomy is the removal of what?
The surgical removal of an undescended testicle
Which solution is common in cold sterilization (I.e., instrument baths)?
Glutaraldehyde
Use glutaraldehyde as a disinfecting solution in cold sterilization baths for instruments and endoscopy equipment
What is an orchidectomy?
Surgical removal of one or both of the tescticles
Which type of retractor would be most helpful during an ovariohysterectomy in an obese patient, when visualization is difficult?
Balfour self-retaining retractor; use in the abdominal cavity to increase visualization
What can you do to help visualize a left ovarian pedicle bleeder during an ovariohysterectomy?
Retract the descending colon to the RIGHT to visualize a left ovarian pedicle bleeder
When wrapping a surgical pack or gown, how should the pack be placed on the wrap?
The pack is placed diagonally on the wrap to allow the corners to fold up over the pack like an envelope
Sternal recumbency means:
Sternal recumbency means that the animal is lying belly down
What should be done with an instrument that has become contaminated during a surgical procedure?
Remove it from the surgical table/field
Which forceps secure drapes to the patient by penetrating the skin?
Backhaus
Backhaus (and Roeder forceps) are towel clamps used to secure drapes to the patient’s skin.
Which choice is an appositional suture pattern?
Simple continuous
What is the purpose of a periosteal elevator?
Lift and separate muscle from bone
Which of the following can be an endogenous source of microbial wound contamination?
A. Surgical team
B. Road gravel
C. Surgical instruments
D. Bowel contents
E. Air
Bowel contents
Sources of endogenous microbial wound contamination come from within the body
Where do sources of endogenous microbial wound contamination come from?
Inside of the body
Which needle holder also cuts suture material?
Olsen-Hegar needle holders
What is the purpose of a Bard-Parker handle?
A handle for disposable scalpel blades
A surgical needle with a taper point is most useful for suturing which tissue?
Subcutaneous tissues, intestines and fascia
Which tissue is best sutured with a surgical needle with a blunt point?
A blunt point needle is used on friable tissues such as the kidney and liver
What kind of scissors are these?
Suture scissors
What advantage do synthetic absorbable suture materials have over natural materials?
Predictable rate of breakdown. Not significantly affected by inflammation or wound infection.
What is the most common treatment for a piglet, kitten, or puppy with a rectal prolapse?
Purse string suture
Typically treated by replacing the protruding tissue and then holding it inside with a purse string suture
In which stage of wound healing are neutrophils found in the largest numbers in the affected tissues?
Neutrophils predominate in wounded tissues during the inflammatory stage
In large animal surgery, which surgical blade fits on a #4 Bard-Parker handle?
20, #21, and #22 all fit on the Bard-Parker #4 handle
What is an external fixation device used for fracture repair?
Kirschner pins
External fixation to stabilize fractures can be achieved using a combination of Kirschner pins and clamps. The pins penetrate through the skin into the bone
Which surgical materials are best sterilized with radiation?
Gloves and suture materials
These are sterilized with radiation during the manufacturing process because heat can destroy them
Which process is appropriate when opening an instrument sterilized in a plastic peel pouch?
Edges are pulled back, keeping package facing away from the body
Which of these choices are manual surgical retractors?
A. Senn
B. Gelpi
C. Finochietto
D. Balfour
E. Weitlaner
A. Senn
What is the LEAST desired method for preventing hypothermia in a surgical patient?
Do not use electric heating pads for recumbent patients because they concentrate heat and can cause thermal burns
