Advanced Trauma Life Support (ATLS) Practice Exam

Question: 1 / 400

What is the expected pulse characteristic in a normovolemic patient?

Weak and irregular

Full, slow, regular

In a normovolemic patient, the expected pulse characteristic is full, slow, and regular. This indicates that the patient has adequate blood volume and maintains stable hemodynamics. A full pulse suggests sufficient stroke volume returned to the heart and adequate perfusion throughout the body. The slow and regular aspect indicates that the heart is functioning effectively, maintaining a steady rate that allows for proper filling and ejection of blood with each heartbeat.

Patients who are normovolemic typically do not exhibit signs of volume deficit, which often results in weaker pulses or tachycardia. Therefore, options that suggest weak, irregular, rapid, or absent pulses are indicative of altered volume status or potential shock, which does not apply to a normovolemic state.

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Rapid and thready

Absent in peripheral areas

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