Critical care, also known as intensive care, is a specialized branch of medicine focused on the diagnosis and management of life-threatening conditions. It involves close monitoring and advanced support for patients with severe illnesses or injuries, typically in an intensive care unit (ICU).
Key Components:
Patient Population: Includes individuals with acute respiratory failure, sepsis, trauma, cardiac arrest, or post-surgical complications. These patients often require immediate intervention to stabilize vital functions.
Settings and Teams: Delivered in ICUs within hospitals, involving multidisciplinary teams such as intensivists, nurses, respiratory therapists, and pharmacists. Advanced monitoring tools like ventilators, hemodynamic devices, and dialysis machines are essential.
Core Principles:
Airway and Breathing Management: Ensuring adequate oxygenation and ventilation, often with mechanical ventilation or non-invasive support.
Circulation and Hemodynamic Stability: Addressing shock, arrhythmias, or low blood pressure through fluids, vasopressors, or surgical interventions.
Organ Support: Managing multi-organ failure with therapies like renal replacement or extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).
Infection Control: Preventing and treating nosocomial infections, which are common in critically ill patients.
Critical care plays a vital role in modern healthcare, improving survival rates and quality of life for the most vulnerable patients through evidence-based protocols and rapid response strategies.
Table of contents
- Part 1: Create an amazing critical care quiz using AI instantly in OnlineExamMaker
- Part 2: 20 critical care quiz questions & answers
- Part 3: OnlineExamMaker AI Question Generator: Generate questions for any topic
Part 1: Create an amazing critical care quiz using AI instantly in OnlineExamMaker
Nowadays more and more people create critical care quizzes using AI technologies, OnlineExamMaker a powerful AI-based quiz making tool that can save you time and efforts. The software makes it simple to design and launch interactive quizzes, assessments, and surveys. With the Question Editor, you can create multiple-choice, open-ended, matching, sequencing and many other types of questions for your tests, exams and inventories. You are allowed to enhance quizzes with multimedia elements like images, audio, and video to make them more interactive and visually appealing.
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Part 2: 20 critical care quiz questions & answers
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1. What is the first-line vasopressor recommended for septic shock according to current guidelines?
A. Dopamine
B. Norepinephrine
C. Epinephrine
D. Vasopressin
Answer: B
Explanation: Norepinephrine is preferred as the first-line vasopressor in septic shock because it effectively maintains mean arterial pressure with a lower risk of tachycardia and arrhythmias compared to dopamine.
2. In a patient with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), what is the target tidal volume for mechanical ventilation?
A. 10-12 mL/kg predicted body weight
B. 6-8 mL/kg predicted body weight
C. 12-15 mL/kg predicted body weight
D. 8-10 mL/kg predicted body weight
Answer: B
Explanation: Low tidal volume ventilation (6-8 mL/kg predicted body weight) is used in ARDS to minimize ventilator-induced lung injury by reducing overdistension and shear forces.
3. Which acid-base disorder is characterized by a low pH, low bicarbonate, and a high anion gap?
A. Metabolic alkalosis
B. Respiratory acidosis
C. Metabolic acidosis
D. Respiratory alkalosis
Answer: C
Explanation: Metabolic acidosis with a high anion gap indicates an accumulation of unmeasured acids, such as in lactic acidosis or ketoacidosis, leading to a decrease in pH and bicarbonate.
4. What is the primary goal of the Surviving Sepsis Campaign’s hour-1 bundle?
A. Administer antibiotics within 24 hours
B. Measure lactate and obtain blood cultures
C. Initiate vasopressors after 6 hours
D. Perform fluid resuscitation over 48 hours
Answer: B
Explanation: The hour-1 bundle emphasizes measuring lactate, obtaining blood cultures, and administering broad-spectrum antibiotics promptly to improve outcomes in sepsis.
5. In a patient with cardiogenic shock, which hemodynamic parameter is most indicative of the condition?
A. Increased cardiac output
B. Decreased systemic vascular resistance
C. Elevated pulmonary capillary wedge pressure
D. Low central venous pressure
Answer: C
Explanation: Elevated pulmonary capillary wedge pressure in cardiogenic shock reflects left ventricular failure and impaired cardiac filling, leading to pulmonary congestion.
6. What is the most appropriate initial fluid for resuscitation in a hypotensive trauma patient?
A. 5% dextrose in water
B. Normal saline or lactated Ringer’s
C. 5% albumin
D. Hypertonic saline
Answer: B
Explanation: Isotonic crystalloids like normal saline or lactated Ringer’s are used for initial resuscitation in trauma to rapidly expand intravascular volume without causing osmotic shifts.
7. Which ventilator mode is best for a patient with severe ARDS to improve oxygenation?
A. Pressure support ventilation
B. Volume control ventilation
C. Airway pressure release ventilation (APRV)
D. High-frequency oscillatory ventilation
Answer: D
Explanation: High-frequency oscillatory ventilation is used in severe ARDS to maintain lung recruitment and improve oxygenation by delivering small tidal volumes at high frequencies.
8. In critical care, what is the primary indication for initiating continuous renal replacement therapy (CRRT)?
A. Mild dehydration
B. Acute kidney injury with fluid overload
C. Chronic renal failure
D. Electrolyte imbalance only
Answer: B
Explanation: CRRT is preferred in critically ill patients with acute kidney injury and fluid overload because it provides gentle, continuous solute removal, reducing hemodynamic instability.
9. Which drug is commonly used as a first-line sedative in mechanically ventilated ICU patients?
A. Haloperidol
B. Propofol
C. Morphine
D. Lorazepam
Answer: B
Explanation: Propofol is favored for sedation in ICU settings due to its rapid onset and offset, allowing for easier neurological assessments and titration.
10. What is the key sign of tension pneumothorax in a critically ill patient?
A. Bradycardia
B. Hypotension and tracheal deviation
C. Hypercapnia
D. Increased urine output
Answer: B
Explanation: Tension pneumothorax causes hypotension due to compressed venous return and tracheal deviation away from the affected side, indicating a medical emergency.
11. In managing status epilepticus, what is the first-line treatment?
A. Phenytoin
B. Lorazepam
C. Valproate
D. Levetiracetam
Answer: B
Explanation: Benzodiazepines like lorazepam are first-line for status epilepticus because they rapidly terminate seizures by enhancing GABAergic inhibition in the brain.
12. Which electrolyte imbalance is most commonly associated with prolonged QT interval and torsades de pointes?
A. Hyperkalemia
B. Hypokalemia
C. Hypercalcemia
D. Hyponatremia
Answer: B
Explanation: Hypokalemia prolongs the QT interval by altering cardiac repolarization, increasing the risk of ventricular arrhythmias like torsades de pointes.
13. What is the primary criterion for diagnosing brain death in critical care?
A. Absent brainstem reflexes and apnea test
B. Flat EEG only
C. Loss of motor response
D. Hypotension
Answer: A
Explanation: Brain death is confirmed by the absence of brainstem reflexes and an apnea test, indicating irreversible cessation of all brain function.
14. In a burn patient with >20% total body surface area affected, what is the initial fluid resuscitation formula?
A. Holliday-Segar formula
B. Parkland formula
C. Modified Brooke formula
D. 4-2-1 rule
Answer: B
Explanation: The Parkland formula (4 mL/kg/%TBSA of lactated Ringer’s) is used to calculate initial fluid needs in major burns to counteract capillary leak and maintain perfusion.
15. Which shock state is characterized by inadequate tissue perfusion due to absolute or relative hypovolemia?
A. Cardiogenic shock
B. Hypovolemic shock
C. Septic shock
D. Obstructive shock
Answer: B
Explanation: Hypovolemic shock results from decreased intravascular volume, leading to reduced cardiac output and tissue hypoperfusion, as seen in hemorrhage or dehydration.
16. What is the target mean arterial pressure (MAP) for patients in septic shock?
A. Less than 65 mmHg
B. 65-70 mmHg
C. Greater than 90 mmHg
D. 50-60 mmHg
Answer: B
Explanation: A MAP of 65-70 mmHg is the initial target in septic shock to ensure adequate organ perfusion while avoiding excessive fluid administration.
17. In weaning a patient from mechanical ventilation, what is the most reliable predictor of success?
A. Rapid shallow breathing index (RSBI) less than 105
B. PaO2/FiO2 ratio greater than 300
C. Heart rate less than 100 bpm
D. Tidal volume greater than 500 mL
Answer: A
Explanation: An RSBI less than 105 breaths/min/L indicates a high likelihood of successful weaning by assessing the patient’s respiratory muscle endurance.
18. Which infection control measure is most critical in preventing ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP)?
A. Daily sedation interruption
B. Elevating the head of the bed to 30-45 degrees
C. Routine antibiotic prophylaxis
D. Frequent suctioning
Answer: B
Explanation: Elevating the head of the bed helps prevent aspiration of gastric contents, a key risk factor for VAP in mechanically ventilated patients.
19. What is the first step in managing a patient with anaphylactic shock?
A. Administer corticosteroids
B. Epinephrine injection
C. Intravenous fluids
D. Antihistamines
Answer: B
Explanation: Epinephrine is the first-line treatment for anaphylactic shock as it rapidly reverses vasodilation, bronchoconstriction, and hypotension.
20. In critical care nutrition, what is the recommended timing for initiating enteral feeding in a hemodynamically stable patient?
A. Within 7 days
B. Within 24-48 hours
C. After 72 hours
D. Only if parenteral nutrition fails
Answer: B
Explanation: Early enteral feeding within 24-48 hours helps maintain gut integrity, reduce infection risk, and improve outcomes in critically ill patients.
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