CRUX OF SURGERY

CRUX OF SURGERY

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Latest — 11 Feb 2026

Trauma Scenario #2

You are the on-call surgical SHo. A male in his forties arrives to A&E following an RTA. He was in a car. He has a respiratory rate of 30, saturations of 84%, heart rate of 121 and blood pressure of 95/60. How do you proceed? Ensure the

More issues

Trauma Scenario #1

You are the on-call surgical SHo. A male in his forties arrives to A&E following an RTA. He was in a car. He is complaining of severe abdominal pain. He has a respiratory rate of 25, saturations of 94%, heart rate of 128 and blood pressure of 100/

GENERAL ATLS

Ensure the patient is managed in the resuscitation bay and that a trauma call has been put out Immediately perform a rapid primary survey in an A to E manner with simultaneous resusctiation following the ATLS protocol Prescribe adequate analgesia using the WHO pain ladder Airway Maintenance with Restriction of

Post-Operative Shortness of Breath

You are called by the physiotherapist to assess a 75-year-old female patient who is had a hemiarthroplasty three days ago for a right neck of femur fracture. Oxygen saturations were 89% and heart rate was 115. How would you approach this patient? * I would immediately go to the patient, asking

Trochlear CN IV and Abducens CN VI

Trochlear CN IV ✨ M ➡ Superior oblique, which depresses the adducted eye. Injury classically leads to being unable to look down and inwards causing difficulty reading or descending stairs. Abducens CN VI ✨ M ➡ Lateral rectus, which abducts the eye. Injury classically causes an inability to look laterally, with the eye resting

Research fraud

Your colleague has edited the raw data to produce more impressive results for your research on long-term outcomes following different operative approaches. How do you proceed? Issues * Research ethics * Integrity * Professionalism * Patient safety Seek information * Discuss with your colleague what you noticed - is there an explanation for what the

Drunk colleague

Your registrar is behaving like they may be under the influence of drugs. He's supposed to be doing a list. How do you proceed? Issues * Patient safety * Professionalism * Trust in the profession * Colleague wellbeing Seek information * Talk privately immediately with the registrar - directly ask if they are

Lost notes

You took patient notes home to work on an audit but when you get home you realise they're not in your bag - you don't know where they are. How do you proceed? Issues 1. Patient confidentiality 2. Data security 3. Patient safety 4. Duty of

Upper Limbs

👩‍⚕️ I have ordered the questions so that we are working our way down the arm. Just before we do that, I want you to look at two summary tables - one that looks at the nerve roots, and one that looks at the nerves. Don't over think them

Lymphatic Drainage

👩‍⚕️ I don't know how to say this except I'm sorry but you need to memorise the drainage of all these organs. I think the easiest way to learn it is (a) draw it and colour code it but (b) test yourself again and again... and again,