Practice Quiz - Leg & Foot
    Below are written questions from previous quizzes and exams. Click here for a Practical Quiz - old format or Practical Quiz - new format.

  1. In a hunting accident, an arrow pierces the mid-calf of a hunter. A major artery is lacerated in the posterior leg, and you notice that the sole of his foot is cold and pale. The dorsum of the foot is warm and normally colored. The artery that seems to be injured is the:
    fibular artery
    posterior tibial artery
    femoral artery
    popliteal artery
    medial plantar artery
  2. A patient complains of localized pain in a swollen lower calf and cannot strongly plantar flex his foot. What tendon may have ruptured?
    calcaneal
    fibularis tertius
    flexor digitorum longus
    flexor hallucis longus
    tibialis anterior
  3. A tennis player feels a "pop" in her calf as she is playing. Her calf becomes tender and there is some slight amount of swelling. Upon examination, her physician informs her that she has ruptured the slender tendon of a small muscle that attaches to the calcaneus. She has apparently ruptured the:
    gastrocnemius
    plantaris
    popliteus
    soleus
    tibialis posterior
  4. A football player tears his calcaneal tendon. You would expect to find weakness in:
    dorsifiexion of the foot
    eversion of the foot
    extension of the knee
    inversion of the foot
    plantarflexion of the foot
  5. While on vacation in Florida following her final exams, a scuba diving medical student is accidentally speared by her diving partner. The end of the spear passes medial to lateral, posterior to the medial malleolus. It severs an artery there, which is the:
    anterior tibial
    dorsalis pedis
    fibular
    medial plantar
    posterior tibial
  6. A patient with painful swelling in the distal calf cannot plantar flex at the ankle with any power. Which tendon was likely ruptured?
    Calcaneal
    Extensor digitorum longus
    Extensor hallucis longus
    Plantaris
    Tibialis anterior
  7. A worker falls from a height and lands on his feet. Radiographs reveal a fracture of the sustentaculum tali. The muscle passing immediately beneath it that would be adversely affected is the:
    fibularis longus
    flexor digitorum longus
    flexor hallucis longus
    tibialis anterior
    tibialis posterior
  8. A patient has stepped on a board with a long nail sticking up from it, and the nail penetrated the patient's foot between the bases of the first and second metatarsals. What artery is most likely injured at this location?
    arcuate
    deep plantar
    dorsalis pedis
    lateral plantar
    medial plantar
  9. A deep laceration, 2 cm in length, immediately posterior to the medial malleolus, may injure any of the following EXCEPT:
    fibular artery
    tibial nerve
    tendon of tibialis posterior m.
    tendon of flexor digitorum longus m.
    tendon of flexor hallucis longus m.
  10. A soldier complains of foot pain following a 50 mile hike. Upon examination, the physician diagnoses tendonitis of the fibularis longus tendon. Because the tenderness is located deeply on the sole of the foot, it appears that the irritation occurred where the tendon lies against bone, covered by a structure called the:
    long plantar ligament
    plantar aponeurosis
    short plantar ligament
    spring ligament
    tendon of tibialis posterior
  11. A construction worker lacerates the dorsum of his foot just below his ankle. Profuse bleeding that occurs would result from cutting which vessel?
    small saphenous vein
    dorsalis pedis artery
    medial plantar artery
    anterior tibial artery
    fibular artery
  12. Compression of the lateral plantar nerve as it passes between the flexor digitorum brevis and quadratus plantae could result in weakness of any of the following actions EXCEPT:
    abduction of the great toe
    adduction of the middle toe
    abduction of the little toe
    adduction of the great toe
    abduction of the middle toe
  13. Pain may result from friction of the tendon of which muscle that passes deep to the anterior fibers of the long plantar ligament.
    tibialis posterior
    flexor hallucis longus
    fibularis longus
    tibialis anterior
    flexor hallucis brevis
  14. A construction worker steps on a board with a nail in it. The nail pierces the sole of his boot and enters his foot 2 cm anterior to his calcaneal tuberosity, at the middle of the width of his foot. Before reaching bone, the nail would pass through, in order:
    Skin, calcaneometatarsal ligament, flexor digitorum brevis, quadratus plantae, long plantar ligament
    Skin, plantar aponeurosis, flexor digitorum brevis, quadratus plantae, long plantar ligament
    Skin, plantar aponeurosis, flexor digitorum brevis, tendons of the flexor digitorum longus, long plantar ligament
    Skin, plantar aponeurosis, quadratus plantae, flexor digitorum brevis, long plantar ligament
    Skin,transverse metatarsal ligament, flexor digitorum brevis, quadratus plantae, long plantar ligament
  15. In an accident involving farm machinery, a farmer recieves a cut on the dorsum of his ankle. As you inspect the wound and test for functional and sensory deficits, you find that no tendons have been cut, but the dorsalis pedis artery and the accompanying nerve have been cut. You would expect to find:
    club foot
    foot drop
    inability to extend the big toe
    numbness between the first and second toes
    weakness in inversion of the foot
  16. While walking barefoot on the beach in Florida following final exams, a medical student steps on a sharp shell which punctures the sole of her foot. She notices that she can no longer spread her toes apart (without using her hands, that is). Which nerve must have been injured?
    deep fibular
    lateral plantar
    medial plantar
    sural
    tibial
  17. A medical student goes for a swim while on vacation in Florida after final exams. A barracuda bites his foot, severing an artery on the dorsum of his foot just below his ankle. Which artery has been severed?
    Anterior tibial
    Deep fibular
    Deep plantar
    Dorsalis pedis
    Dorsal metatarsal
  18. The lateral plantar nerve is a branch of which nerve?
    Deep fibular
    Femoral
    Saphenous
    Sural
    Tibial
  19. The most usual site for feeling the pulsations of the dorsalis pedis artery in the foot is:
    Just behind the medial malleolus
    Just lateral to the tendon of extensor hallucis longus
    Behind the tendon of fibularis tertius muscle
    In the second dorsal metatarsal space
    Just behind the lateral malleolus.
  20. A patient with a fracture to the left upper tibia was treated with a plaster cast. A few days later he started to develop progressive numbness over the dorsum of the foot and weakness in dorsiflexion. The cast was quickly changed and the signs were attributed to nerve compression. The compressed nerve was most likely the:
    Tibial
    Obturator
    Sciatic
    Femoral
    Common fibular
  21. A long distance runner complained of swelling and pain of his shin. At physical examination, skin testing showed normal cutaneous sensation of the leg. However, muscular strength tests showed marked weakness of dorsiflexion and impaired inversion of the foot. Which nerve serves the muscles involved?
    common fibular
    deep fibular
    sciatic
    superficial fibular
    tibial
  22. While at the beach in Florida after final exams, a medical student steps on a stingray, which responds by stinging her in the ankle. The stinger pierces the skin, subcutaneous tissue, and flexor retinaculum of the ankle. Which other structure passing under the retinaculum may be injured?
    Tibial nerve
    Tibialis anterior
    Quadratus plantae
    Anterior tibial artery
    Plantar arterial arch
  23. Your patient was struck by a car's bumper as she crossed the street, and her fibular neck is broken. After the bone has healed, she has "foot drop", i. e. she cannot dorsiflex her foot, and so it flops onto the ground during walking. Denervation (paralysis) of which of the following muscles would be associated with foot drop?
    fibularis longus
    tibialis posterior
    fibularis brevis
    tibialis anterior
    popliteus
  24. A pedestrian is struck by a car, and his fibular neck is fractured. There is no indication of foot drop, but he cannot evert his foot and the top of his foot is numb. This apparent nerve lesion would affect which of the following muscles?
    Tibialis posterior
    Tibialis anterior
    Fibularis tertius
    Fibularis longus
    Adductor hallucis
  25. A patient has been diagnosed with bone cancer in the fibula that necessitates its removal. Which of the following muscles would be least affected following removal of the fibula?
    biceps femoris
    extensor digitorum longus
    flexor digitorum longus
    flexor hallucis longus
    peroneus tertius
  26. A player is kicked on the front of his leg during a soccer game, and a large bruise develops. A hematoma deep to the crural fascia can create extreme pressure within the anterior compartment of the leg, compressing structures within it. The most likely finding resulting from this anterior compartment syndrome is:
    numbness on the dorsum of the foot
    inability to evert the foot
    inability to invert the foot
    foot drop
    inability to plantarflex the foot
  27. A car strikes a pedestrian on the lateral side of her leg. Following the accident, she has "foot drop". Her foot hangs loosely in plantar flexion when she raises it off the ground. She can still invert her foot, but cannot evert it. She can flex but not extend her toes. Which nerve is most likely to have been crushed in her accident?
    common fibular
    tibial
    superficial fibular
    medial plantar
    sciatic