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Retired NBME 21 Answers

nbme21/Block 2/Question#43 (reveal difficulty score)
A 78-year-old woman is brought to the ...
Embolectomy ๐Ÿ” / ๐Ÿ“บ / ๐ŸŒณ / ๐Ÿ“–
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 +5  upvote downvote
submitted by โˆ—visualninjacontender(18)
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Irrerugularly Irregular rhythm = Afib Afib --> stasis of blood in the Heart ---> Thrombus formation Thrombus will embolize to the (likely) the popliteal artery leading to acute limb ischemia

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194orbust  why would an embolectomy be favored over clopidogrel? +3
194orbust  oh nvm......it's bc clopidogrel won't bust a clot, just prevents them from forming. +20
chandlerbas  also the way i see it is the hommie has so much pain as indicated by "sudden onset of severe pain" so you want something fast and effective. surgery time! grab my scalpel! drugs could be indicated but arent an option even then heparin takes 20 to 60 minutes to work so +4
leemax  lol +
leemax  lol +



 +2  upvote downvote
submitted by โˆ—zevvyt(45)
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to me, this is a process of elimination question.

Fasciotomy and bosentan don't make sense.

Clopidogrel and aspirin kinda make sense, Except Treatment of DVT is not part of their clinical use. (Clopidogrel 429 and aspirin 475 of FA 2019).

So we're left w Embolectomy.

PS. Thrombolytics and Direct Factor Xa inhibitors are used for DVT

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personalpurposes  Yeah I dont think is going for a DVT though, the patient is presenting with "coolness and paleness" in her LE with absence of pulses". This is basically implying an arterial occlusion and thus an embolus in the ARTERIAL system. In a DVT we can say arterial supply is normal so we would feel a warm extremity with normal presentation. Either way I guess at the end of the day you could embolize the DVT clot too. +3
yhm17  And the mention of irregularly irregular rhythms clues you in that a clot was formed in the heart and embolized to the lower extremity arteries. +1



 +0  upvote downvote
submitted by โˆ—an_improved_me(91)
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Initially i was stuck between embelectomy and fasciotomy, mainly because the pt did seem to have some symptoms of compartment syndrome: pain, pulseless, pallor, perishing cold (remember 6Ps) so i thought maybe fasciotomy could be an answer.

However, fasciotomy is something that would usually occur due to neurovascular compromise, which commonly happens from trauma. So i went with an embolus, since the pt had irregularly irregualr rhythm, prediposing to thrombus/embolus forming, with eventual occlusion.

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abk93  guys, I might be wrong... but I don't think afib EVER gives rise to DVT's... there are these things called capillaries, they are smaller than discrete RBC diameters wide in calliber... a afib producing a clot that is pumped out of the left or right heart will not wind up in the venous circulation... won't happen. am I wrong? +1
amsizar714  you right man +



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