Scenario
A 26 year old man presents to the ED having been hit in the right eye with a wooden block thrown by his young child.
Question
a. Describe the photograph. (50%) b. What are the potential complications of this injury? (50%)
Answer
FACEM VAQ Exam 2003.2 – Question 6
- Overall pass rate for this question was 29 / 82 (35.4%).
- A photograph showing a subconjunctival haemorrhage and hyphaema, with an irregular pupil is shown.
- Examiners were very disappointed in the standard of answers to this question particularly as the key information in the stem guided the candidates towards the likely diagnoses.
- They were concerned that answers also focused on injuries that were not consistent with the stated mechanism such as head injury, cervical spine trauma and skull fractures.
- Such answers were specifically penalized as they showed lack of perspective and a tendency towards formulaic rather than considered answers.
- Since the question specifically asked for complications related to this injury they were at a loss to explain why answers focused on issues other than the eye.
About Mike Cadogan
