These questions are similar to those asked on the American Board of Surgery Recertification Examination. You can use them to prepare for the examination, fulfill learning requirements for various maintenance of competence programs, or simply improve your surgical knowledge.

1. Radiation enteritis
a)  Usually presents with perforation
b)  Is caused by thrombosis of mucosal vessels
c)  Occurs after 3,000 cGy of abdominal radiation
d)  Routinely requires operative therapy
e)  Is likely in patients who have undergone laparotomy

2. Choledochal cysts are
a) Best treated with Roux-en-Y cystojejunostomy
b)  Generally diagnosed in infancy
c)  More common in men
d)  Premalignant
e)  Invariably associated with an abdominal mass

3. Type 1 gastric ulcers are
a)  At the incisura
b)  Along the greater curvature
c)  Prepyloric
d)  Associated with simultaneous duodenal ulcers
e)  Close to the esophagogastric junction

4. Adenoid cystic carcinoma of the salivary gland
a)  Is rare in adults
b)  Rarely metastasizes
c)  Rapidly causes death
d)  Has a propensity for neural invasion
e)  Is most common in the submaxillary gland

5. The most common complication of open Roux-Y gastric bypass is
a)  Anastomotic leak
b)  Incisional hernia
c)  Hemorrhage
d)  Pulmonary embolus
e)  Splenic injury

6. Scaphoid (navicular) fractures
a)  Can be routinely diagnosed on plain radiographs of the hand
b) Cause avascular necrosis in 10% of patients
c)  Require thumb inclusion in a long-arm cast
d)  Present with pain over the ulnar side of the wrist
e)  Rarely cause non-union

7. Lactic acidosis
a)  Is associated with vitamin C deficiency
b)  Is caused by inadequate ability to clear protons in renal failure
c)  Is purely the result of hypoxemia
d)  Can be reversed by bicarbonate administration  
e) Suppresses conversion of glucose to pyruvate molecules

8. The most common cause of intrahepatic presinusoidal portal hypertension is
a)  Alcoholic cirrhosis
b)  Congenital hepatic fibrosis
c)  Schistosomiasis
d)  Splenic vein thrombosis
e)  Budd-Chiari syndrome

9. In severe burns, renal failure
a)  Can reliably be eliminated by aggressive resuscitation
b)  Carries a 20% mortality rate
c)  Is due to diminished circulating blood volume
d)  May be potentiated by stress hormones
e)  Is generally of the high output variety

Web-only Questions
10. Direct inguinal hernias
a) Are more common than femoral hernias in women
b) Occur more on the right side than on the left
c) Cause strangulation more frequently than indirect inguinal hernias
d) Can reliably be distinguished from indirect hernias on physical examination
e) Occur lateral to the superficial epigastric vessels

11. Sigmoid-vesical fistulas
a) Can generally be treated with a one-stage operation
b) Are best diagnosed by barium enema
c) Most commonly occur in Crohn's disease
d) Require urgent operation
e) Usually occur in women

12. Risk factors for development of carcinoma of the head of the pancreas include
a) Diabetes
b) Upregulation of the APC (adenomatous polyposis coli) gene
c) Hereditary pancreatitis
d) Consumption of coffee
e) Choledocholithiasis