10 exam-style questions with answers and explanations, straight from our 1,030-question bank. Tap an answer to check yourself. When you're ready, take the scored version in the free practice test.
The OTC exam has 165 questions and runs 3 hours.
These 10 free OTC questions are organized by exam domain, so you can see how each part of the Orthopaedic Technologist Certified (OTC) blueprint is tested. Reveal the answer and explanation under each question.
Before splinting a child's supracondylar humerus fracture, the technologist asks for an 'OK' sign. The child makes a flattened pulp-to-pulp pinch and cannot actively flex the thumb interphalangeal or index distal interphalangeal joint. Finger extension and abduction are preserved, and light touch is intact throughout the hand. This pattern localizes the motor deficit to which nerve?
Correct answer: A - Anterior interosseous nerve
A 14-year-old presents with several weeks of right knee pain and a limp. Knee motion is full and painless, with no joint-line or tibial-tubercle tenderness. Examination of the hip reveals restricted internal rotation, and the thigh turns outward as the hip is flexed. Which diagnosis best accounts for the apparently normal knee examination?
Correct answer: C - Slipped capital femoral epiphysis
At a follow-up strength assessment, a patient completes full wrist extension against gravity and holds against moderate resistance. Strength is clearly reduced compared with the unaffected wrist, and testing is painless. Which Medical Research Council muscle-power grade should be recorded?
Correct answer: C - 4/5
During room preparation, tap water splashes onto a wrapped instrument tray after it has been removed from sterile storage. The wrapper is visibly damp, although the chemical indicator shows the expected color change. A second sterile tray is dry and intact. How should the trays be handled?
Correct answer: D - Use the replacement; return the damp package for reprocessing.
Following reduction of a distal radius fracture, the physician requests a noncircumferential splint that accommodates swelling and restricts forearm pronation and supination. Which construct provides the requested control?
Correct answer: C - Sugar-tong forearm splint
A patient receiving continuous splint treatment for a closed mallet injury says, 'This splint must be too short. I can still bend the middle joint.' The splint holds the distal interphalangeal joint in extension and leaves the proximal interphalangeal joint free. The skin is intact. Which reply accurately explains the intended fit?
Correct answer: B - 'Keep the tip joint straight in the splint; the middle joint may bend.'
While a newly applied plaster ankle splint is curing, which action is most likely to increase heat retained against the patient's skin?
Correct answer: A - Resting the curing splint on a thick pillow.
A well-padded posterior short-leg splint holds a swollen ankle at the prescribed angle. The physician requests additional medial-lateral support while retaining a noncircumferential construct. Which addition best limits inversion and eversion?
Correct answer: D - An ankle stirrup extending beneath the heel and up both sides.
A patient's bed has been lowered for a linen change, leaving the skeletal traction weights resting on the floor. The rope remains in its bed-mounted pulley and the limb is aligned. The previous bed setting maintained the prescribed setup. What restores effective traction without changing the prescription?
Correct answer: D - Restore the bed height so the prescribed weights hang freely.
A healthy 60-kg adult has received 10 mL of 1% lidocaine without epinephrine for local infiltration during a minor orthopaedic procedure. The physician now requests another 12 mL of the same formulation. No other local anesthetic has been given. Which dose check correctly pairs the cumulative dose, if the additional amount is used, with this patient's applicable labeled maximum?
Correct answer: B - 220 mg total, below a patient-specific maximum of 270 mg.
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