TheoryRespiratory TMC Practice Questions
Free Respiratory TMC practice questions with answers and plain-English explanations. Browse the PDF, video and online mock test.
Respiratory TMC Questions
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Q1Coarse, low-pitched bubbling sounds heard over the large airways that often clear with coughing are best described as:
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✓ Correct answer: Coarse crackles (rhonchi)
Coarse crackles, sometimes called rhonchi, arise from secretions in larger airways and frequently change or clear after the patient coughs.
Q2A high-pitched, musical, continuous sound heard on expiration is most consistent with:
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✓ Correct answer: Wheezing
Wheezes are continuous, high-pitched musical sounds produced by airflow through narrowed airways, classically heard in bronchospasm.
Q3A harsh, high-pitched sound heard over the upper airway during inspiration in a patient recently extubated suggests:
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✓ Correct answer: Upper airway obstruction (stridor)
Inspiratory stridor after extubation indicates upper-airway narrowing, commonly from laryngeal edema, and warrants prompt evaluation.
Q4A bluish discoloration of the lips and oral mucosa indicating reduced oxygenation is termed:
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✓ Correct answer: Central cyanosis
Central cyanosis reflects desaturated hemoglobin in mucous membranes and signals significant hypoxemia, unlike peripheral cyanosis from poor perfusion.
Q5Clubbing of the fingers in a patient with chronic lung disease most directly reflects:
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✓ Correct answer: Chronic hypoxemia
Digital clubbing develops with long-standing hypoxemia and chronic conditions such as bronchiectasis, interstitial fibrosis, and cyanotic heart disease.
Q6Increased tactile fremitus over a region of the chest most likely indicates:
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✓ Correct answer: Lung consolidation (pneumonia)
Consolidated lung transmits vibration better than air-filled lung, so fremitus increases; air or fluid between the lung and chest wall decreases it.
Q7A hyperresonant percussion note over one hemithorax with absent breath sounds suggests:
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✓ Correct answer: Pneumothorax
Trapped pleural air produces hyperresonance with diminished or absent breath sounds; fluid or consolidation instead produces dullness.
Q8Which respiratory rate in an adult is generally classified as tachypnea?
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✓ Correct answer: 26 breaths/min
Normal adult respiratory rate is about 12-20 breaths/min; a rate above 20, such as 26, is tachypnea.
Q9A pulse oximeter reading may be falsely unreliable in a patient with:
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✓ Correct answer: Carbon monoxide poisoning
Standard pulse oximetry cannot distinguish carboxyhemoglobin from oxyhemoglobin, so SpO2 reads falsely high in CO poisoning; co-oximetry is required.
Q10A sudden drop in end-tidal CO2 (PetCO2) toward zero in a ventilated patient most urgently suggests:
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✓ Correct answer: Loss of airway or circulation (e.g., disconnection or cardiac arrest)
An abrupt fall of PetCO2 to near zero signals no CO2 reaching the detector, typically from circuit disconnection, esophageal tube, or cardiac arrest.
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