USMLE Step 1 QUESTION of the DAY!

A patient arrives via ambulance to the emergency department. He has been stabbed in the stomach nine times. During surgery, the Doctor finds that the superior mesenteric artery was completely severed. Which of the following is most likely to be affected?

A) Liver
B) Pancreas
C) Duodenum
D) Gallbladder
E) Lower 1/3 Esophagus

(scroll for answer)
























Answer: C) Duodenum. The Superior mesenteric artery supplies the midgut. The midgut includes 2nd, 3rd, 4th parts of the Duodenum, jejunum, ileum, pancreas, and proximal two-thirds of the colon. The Liver, pancreas, gallbladder, and esophagus are all parts of the foregut (supplied by the celiac trunk).



USMLE Step 1 D.O.C. of the DAY!


Drug of choice for

Tropheryma whippelii causing whipple’s disease

(scroll for answer)






















Trimethoprim/sulfamethoxazole



USMLE Step 1 FACT of the DAY!

"The Hindgut"
- distal 1/3 of colon
- rectum

Artery: inferior mesenteric
nerves: lumbar splanchnic sympathetics
pelvic splanchnic (S2, S3, S4) parasympathetic