OVERVIEW
This page is dedicated to organizing various examples of standardized exam questions whose answer is a pancreatic pseudocyst. While this may seem a odd practice, it is useful to see multiple examples of how pancreatic pseudocyst will be characterized on standardized exams (namely the boards and the shelf exams). This page is not meant to be used as a traditional question bank (as all of the answers will be the same), however seeing the classic “test” characterization for a disease is quite valuable.
QUESTION EXAMPLES
Question # 1
A 50 year old alcoholic male presents with ill-defined upper abdominal discomfort and early satiety. On physical exam he has a large epigastric mass that is deep within the abdomen, He was discharged from the hospital 30 days ago after treatment for acute pancreatitis.
Explanation: abdominal pain + recent history of acute pancreatitis + abdominal mass = pancreatic pseudocyst (caused by acute pancreatitis)
Question #2
A 60 year old woman presents with vague upper abdominal discomfort, early satiety and a large epigastric mass. Five weeks ago she was involved in an automobile accident where she hit her upper abdomen against the steering wheel.
Explanation: abdominal pain + recent history of abdominal trauma + abdominal mass = pancreatic pseudocyst (caused by abdominal trauma)
Page Updated: 03.07.2017