Chapter 17 Review Questions

Which of the following is NOT interrelated to other symptoms and does not fit into the pain triangle?

Cardinal signs of inflammation

What is the difference between a treatment approach that treats the symptom and one that treats the patient and the cause for the symptom?

The approach that deals with the patient and cause for the symptom will have a greater potential for preventing the problem from recurring.

What legislative requirement was passed in 1976 and had a significant impact on the use of medical devices in physical therapy?

Manufacturers were required to prove that a device is safe and effective for human use before marketing it.

Which of the following Food and Drug Administration (FDA) safety and efficacy standards required of the introduction of new devices into the physical therapy marketplace would NOT be important for clinical safety?

The standard that ensures that the manufacturer has paid the necessary fees to the FDA to market and label the device.

Which of the following definitions best fits the phrase “evidence-based practice”?

Judicious use of research findings to make decisions about patient treatment interventions

Which of the following descriptions would best fit a “shotgun” approach?

The use of all physical agents available that could possibly be used to treat a patient’s reported symptom

Which of the following statements is most accurate regarding the potential significance of the available treatment time to the outcome of the treatment intervention?

The available treatment time that the patient allows can make or break the outcome of the treatment if it is insufficient to produce results.

What is the difference between treating a patient with an acute injury and treating a patient with a chronic condition?

The emphasis for patients with an acute injury is often on pain reduction.

Of what clinical significance would the presence of osteoporosis be for a patient who had been involved in an automobile accident in which the patient had been driving the car and had been hit from behind? This patient has been complaining of decreased cervical mobility, paresthesia in the left upper extremity, and severe headaches.

This might impact the types of treatment approaches that are considered for this patient.

A treatment intervention for a patient who has been referred to physical therapy for lower extremity edema reduction would be considered inappropriate if all but which of the following statements was true?

Treatment interventions for lower extremity edema would be appropriate as long as the lower extremity has been evaluated, is elevated during treatment, and the patient is educated regarding what to do when not in therapy.

Of what potential significance is the patient’s ability to understand the purpose of the therapeutic intervention, and why?

All of the above.

What is one of the greatest differences between treating a patient with a chronic condition and treating a patient with an acute injury?

Although pain may or may not be a complaint with chronic conditions, patients with chronic conditions usually experience a loss of function.

Why is it important for patients to understand the difference between expected and unexpected responses to treatment interventions?

Clinicians know what responses are considered normal and what response would be considered inappropriate, but patients don’t know this and may become injured.

You are about to select a piece of equipment to use for a therapeutic intervention with a patient. Which of the following questions must be considered, and why?

All of the above, to ensure optimal patient safety and effective treatment outcome.

A patient has been in the physical therapy department for the past 20 minutes and has received electrical stimulation to the upper trapezius bilaterally while lying prone on a treatment table. There were hot packs placed on top of the electrodes, and the patient felt a mild but comfortable tingling sensation during the application of the electrical stimulation. After removing the electrodes and hot packs, the area has a mild hyperemia. How should this be explained to the patient?

“This is a normal response, which is an increase in circulation that should last for approximately an hour or possibly longer.”

A patient has been in the physical therapy department for the past 20 minutes and has received electrical stimulation to the upper trapezius bilaterally while lying prone on a treatment table. There were hot packs placed on top of the electrodes, and the patient felt a mild but comfortable tingling sensation during the application of the electrical stimulation. She had initially complained of pain and muscle tightness in her neck that limited her mobility in cervical rotation. After removing the electrodes and hot packs, she now reports that her discomfort is a “2/10 from the 9/10 that it was” and she can “freely move her neck.” Where and how should the treatment intervention be documented?

Treatment interventions or “what was done” should be documented in the objective portion of the note and the outcome should be documented in the assessment portion of the note.