American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Certification Practice Exam

Disable ads (and more) with a membership for a one time $2.99 payment

Prepare for the American Board of Internal Medicine Exam with our multiple choice questions and detailed explanations. Enhance your medical knowledge and skills to excel in your certification exam with confidence!

Each practice test/flash card set has 50 randomly selected questions from a bank of over 500. You'll get a new set of questions each time!

Practice this question and more.

In patients with AAA greater than 5.5 cm, what is the general recommendation?

Observation
Immediate surgery
Start medication
Regular follow-ups with no action required

The correct answer is: Immediate surgery

In patients with an abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) measuring greater than 5.5 cm, the general recommendation is surgical intervention. This is based on evidence indicating that the risk of rupture increases significantly once an AAA reaches this size. When an aneurysm reaches the threshold of 5.5 cm or larger, the chances of a catastrophic event occurring outweigh the risks associated with surgery. Surgery can be performed through open repair or endovascular aneurysm repair (EVAR), both of which have been shown to effectively reduce mortality associated with rupture. For smaller aneurysms, monitoring and conservative management may be appropriate, but once the 5.5 cm threshold is crossed, the benefits of surgical intervention clearly become predominant to prevent life-threatening complications. The other options suggest either a wait-and-see approach or the initiation of medication, which are not recommended for AAA of this size. Regular follow-ups without intervention would allow the risk of rupture to increase unaddressed, while medication does not address the anatomical issue presented by the AAA. Thus, immediate surgical intervention stands out as the correct course of action.