Multiple choice questions: emergency medicine.

Abstract

Test yourself with these questions from OnExamination A 26 year old man presents at the emergency department with sudden onset breathlessness. Examination shows him to be dyspnoeic at rest, with saturations of 80% on air and a pulse rate of 100 beats/min. His trachea is not deviated, and his blood pressure is 117/82 mm Hg. Figure 1 shows his radiograph (Fig1). Fig 1 After administering oxygen, what is the definitive course of management? 1. Pleural aspiration or chest drain 2. Intravenous furosemide 3. Intravenous hydrocortisone 4. Nebulised salbutamol 5. Non-invasive ventilation ### Answer 1 A is the correct answer. This patient has a large pnuemothorax with an obvious lung edge visible through the left hemithorax and radiolucency signifying air to the right of this. He has no mediastinal shift and he is not hypotensive, so there is no evidence of …