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20 multiple-choice questions and 7 flashcards on Intraoperative Patient Care — Surgical Procedures, about 12% of the Surgical Tech bank. Every one carries a written rationale.
Intraoperative Patient Care — Surgical Procedures is one of 4 chapters in CoStudy's Surgical Tech (CST/NBSTSA) bank, and it holds 20 of the bank's 166 multiple-choice questions — roughly 12% of the total. That proportion is not arbitrary: chapters follow the certifying body's published exam outline, and the number of questions in each is set by that domain's published weight, so the share of your practice time this chapter takes matches the share of the real exam it accounts for.
Studying by chapter is worth doing once you have a diagnostic score. A single overall percentage tells you whether you are close; it does not tell you which domain is dragging. Working a weak chapter in isolation, and re-testing it in isolation, is the fastest way to move a score that has stalled — and it is why the mock exams in CoStudy report by domain rather than as one number.
5 questions drawn from this chapter, with the full rationale shown — the controlling principle behind the right answer, and why each wrong option tempts and fails.
The largest artery in the body is the:
Answer: D — Aorta
The aorta is the largest artery, originating at the left ventricle.
Which instrument set is a core requirement for a tonsillectomy?
Answer: A — Tonsil snare, tonsil forceps/grasper, and a mouth gag (e.g., Crowe-Davis or McIvor) for exposure
A) Correct — tonsillectomy requires a self-retaining mouth gag for exposure plus tonsil-specific grasping and snare instruments. B) A laminectomy set is used for spine surgery, unrelated to the oropharynx. C) A dermatome harvests skin grafts in plastics cases. D) A phaco handpiece is used for cataract removal, not tonsillectomy.
A common cause of surgical site infection (SSI) involving the skin flora is:
Answer: D — Staphylococcus aureus, including MRSA
S. aureus, including methicillin-resistant strains, is a leading SSI organism originating from skin flora.
During cardiopulmonary bypass, cardioplegia solution is administered primarily to:
Answer: B — Arrest the heart and protect the myocardium while the heart is stopped for surgery
A) Cardioplegia is not an antiseptic and does not sterilize anything. B) Correct — cold, potassium-rich cardioplegia stops the heart in diastole and protects myocardial cells during ischemic arrest on bypass. C) General anesthesia is provided separately by the anesthesia provider, not by cardioplegia. D) Infection prevention is achieved through asepsis and antibiotics, not cardioplegia.
Laparoscopic insufflation gas is typically:
Answer: B — CO₂
A) Combustible. B) Correct. C/D) Wrong.
4 cards from the 7 in this chapter.
Laparoscopic procedures?
Trocars + insufflation (CO₂). Common: cholecystectomy, appendectomy, hernia repair, hysterectomy. Specialized instruments + camera.
Cesarean section?
Surgical delivery of infant. Pfannenstiel incision (most common) or vertical. Layers down to uterus. Time-sensitive for fetal welfare.
Abdominal quadrants + organs?
RUQ (liver, gallbladder). LUQ (stomach, spleen). RLQ (appendix, cecum). LLQ (sigmoid colon). Helps localize abdominal procedures.
Major arteries to know?
Aorta (largest), carotid, subclavian, brachial, femoral, popliteal. Locations critical for prep + hemostasis.
These are a sample. The full Intraoperative Patient Care — Surgical Procedures chapter runs 27 items with per-chapter progress tracking, on the web and in the iOS app.
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