Archive Of Standardized Exam Questions: Peritonsillar Abscess

OVERVIEW

This page is dedicated to organizing various examples of standardized exam questions whose answer is peritonsillar abscess. While this may seem a odd practice, it is useful to see multiple examples of how peritonsillar abscess 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 17 year old boy comes to the clinic due to a sore throat and a fever. He began having a mild sore throat a week ago, but it has worsened these past few days. The patient explains that he ha left neck pan and an earache, but denies any cough or shortness of breath. His tempteaturep is 102.2°F, blood pressure is 120/75 mm Hg, and his pulse is 105/min. A physical exam reveals enlarged and tender cervical lymph nodes. The patient can not open his mouth fully, but an exam of the oral cavity shows pooling of saliva, and a large left tonsil with selling of the soft palate, and deviation of the uvula to the right. His hear exam is unremarkable. A rapid strep test is negative. What is the likely diagnosis in this patient? 

Explanation: uvula deviation = peritonsillar abscess

 

 

Page Updated: 03.08.2017