OR Staff and Sterility
This term describes an area that is maintained free of viable microorganisms to prevent contamination during surgery.
What is a sterile field?
This test assesses ACL integrity by translating the tibia anteriorly while the knee is flexed approximately 20–30 degrees.
What is the Lachman Test?
A 22-year-old presents with periumbilical pain that migrates to the right lower quadrant, along with nausea and low-grade fever.
What is acute appendicitis? (Treatment: appendectomy)
This ligament suspends the duodenojejunal flexure and marks the anatomic divide between the upper and lower GI tract.
What is the ligament of Treitz?
This suturing technique uses a “far-far, near-near” needle pattern and is particularly useful for everting wound edges
What is vertical mattress?
Before making the first incision, the surgical team pauses to verify the patient's identity, procedure, and surgical site. This safety process is called this.
What is surgical time-out?
This classic physical exam sign is characterized by right lower quadrant pain elicited by palpation of the left lower quadrant, suggesting acute appendicitis.
What is Rovsing's sign?
A 45-year-old woman with right upper quadrant pain after a fatty meal, a positive Murphy’s sign, and gallstones on ultrasound.
What is cholecystitis? (Treatment: laparoscopic cholecystectomy)
This triangle, bordered by the inferior epigastric vessels, the lateral edge of the rectus abdominis, and the inguinal ligament, is where direct inguinal hernias bulge through.
What is Hesselbach's triangle?
A surgeon needs to close a delicate facial laceration and must choose between 2-0, 3-0, 4-0, and 6-0 sutures. They would choose this suture size, which has the smallest diameter.
What is the 6-0 suture?
During abdominal surgery, the team discovers that the final sponge count is incorrect. These two OR team members typically perform and reconcile the surgical count together.
Who are the circulating nurse and scrub nurse?
This operation for pancreatic head malignancy involves removal of the pancreatic head, duodenum, gallbladder, and distal bile duct, often with part of the stomach.
What is the Whipple procedure?
A 60-year-old man has a bulge in the groin that increases with coughing and lifting. It lies lateral to the inferior epigastric vessels.
What is an indirect inguinal hernia?
During laparoscopic inguinal hernia repair, surgeons avoid placing tacks in the “triangle of doom,” between the vas deferens and the gonadal vessels, because it contains these vessels.
What are the external iliac artery and vein?
During closure of a long abdominal incision, a surgeon uses a continuous suturing technique. Upon reaching the end of the incision, the surgeon wants to secure the suture without using a traditional square knot. They would use this knot instead.
What is an Aberdeen knot?
This type of contamination is when sterile drape becomes soaked with fluid, allowing microorganisms to pass through from an unsterile surface.
What is strike-through contamination?
This named arterial circle at the base of the brain connects the anterior and posterior cerebral circulations, providing potential collateral blood flow.
What is the Circle of Willis?
An older patient presents with crampy abdominal pain, vomiting, distension, and obstipation. They had a prior abdominal surgery, and the x-ray shows dilated bowel loops with air-fluid levels.
What is a small bowel obstruction due to adhesions?
A 48-year-old professional singer has an uncomplicated total thyroidectomy. In recovery she has no stridor and a normal everyday speaking voice, but she can no longer hit high notes and her voice tires easily. The surgeon mentions that the superior thyroid vessels were ligated near the upper pole. Which nerve was most likely injured?
What is the external branch of the superior laryngeal nerve?
A 45-year-old male presents to the emergency department with a large, contaminated lower-extremity wound following a motorcycle accident. After irrigation and debridement, the wound is left open rather than closed with sutures. Over the following weeks, the wound gradually closes through granulation tissue formation, contraction, and epithelialization without surgical closure through this type of healing.
What is healing my secondary intention?
During neurosurgery on a patient with suspected Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD), surgical instruments may become contaminated with prions. This is the preferred method of handling disposable instruments exposed to high-risk tissue.
What is incineration?
This named anatomical triangle is bounded by the inguinal ligament, sartorius, and adductor longus and is important for femoral vascular access.
What is Scarpa's triangle?
A patient presents after a car accident with hypotension, tachycardia, distended neck veins, muffled heart sounds, and a pericardial effusion on FAST. This is the triad named after this surgeon.
What is cardiac tamponade (Beck’s triad)?
A 62-year-old man with iron deficiency anemia is found to have an adenocarcinoma of the cecum on colonoscopy. He is scheduled for a right hemicolectomy with oncologic resection. Which of the following vessels should be ligated at their origin?
What are the ileocolic, right colic, and right branch of the middle colic arteries?
A 67-year-old male with obesity and type 2 diabetes mellitus presents 8 days after undergoing an exploratory laparotomy. He reports experiencing a sudden pulling sensation near his incision following a severe coughing episode, accompanied by a large amount of pink-tinged drainage. Physical examination reveals separation of the surgical wound edges and disruption of the underlying fascial closure without protrusion of abdominal contents, markers of this complication.
What is wound dehiscence?