EXERCISES, LESSON 4
INSTRUCTIONS: Answer the following exercises by marking the lettered response that
best answers the question, by completing the incomplete statement, or by writing the
answer in the space provided at the end of the exercise.
After you have completed all of these exercises, turn to "Solutions to Exercises" at
the end of the lesson and check your answers. For each exercise answered incorrectly,
reread the material referenced with the solution.
1.
Which of the following statements best defines the term local infiltration?
a. A type of anesthesia achieved by applying the anesthetic agent to the
surface of mucous membranes to block nerve transmissions.
b. A type of anesthesia achieved when the nerve endings in the skin and
subcutaneous tissues are blocked by direct contact with a local anesthetic that is
injected into the tissue.
c. A type of anesthesia accomplished by injecting a nerve that leads to the
operative site.
d. A type of anesthesia accomplished by injecting a local anesthetic into
the peridural space.
2. Which of the following statements best describes the mechanism of action of
local anesthetics?
a. Local anesthetics destroy the nerve tissue so that electrical impulses
cannot be carried.
b. Local anesthetics greatly increase the number of electrical impulses
being transmitted so that pain cannot be felt in that particular area.
c. Local anesthetics block depolarization of the nerve membrane so that
the conduction of the nerve impulse is impossible.
d. Local anesthetics remove both potassium and sodium ions from the
nerve tissue so that polarity in the nerve cannot be accomplished; therefore, the
impulses are not allowed to move past a certain point in the tissue.
MD0804
4-11