Deck 17: Peripheral Vascular System and Lymphatic System

Question 1

Relate the structure and functions of arteries and veins.

Answer 1

Arteries, which carry blood from the heart, are strong, tough, and tense, designed to withstand the pressure created with each heartbeat. Arteries contain elastic fibers that allow their walls to stretch with systole and recoil with diastole. Veins, which drain the deoxygenated blood and waste products from the tissues and return it to the heart, are thinner and more passive than the arteries. Veins contain intraluminal valves.

Question 2

List the pulses accessible to examination.

Answer 2

The following arteries are accessible to examination: temporal, carotid, aortic, brachial, ulnar, radial, femoral, popliteal, dorsalis pedis, and posterior tibial.

Question 3

Describe the mechanisms that keep blood moving toward the heart in the venous system.

Answer 3

Blood moves from the low-pressure system of the veins through the action of contracting skeletal muscles that milk the blood proximally back toward the heart, the pressure gradient caused by breathing, and the intraluminal valves that keep blood flowing in one direction.

Question 4

Explain the term "capacitance vessels."

Question 5

List the risk factors for venous stasis.

Question 6

Relate the structure and functions of the lymph vessels.

Question 7

Describe the function of the lymph nodes.

Question 8

Cite the location of superficial groups of lymph nodes that are accessible to examination.

Question 9

Name the related organs and functions of the lymphatic system.

Question 10

Incorporate health promotion concepts when performing an assessment of the peripheral vascular system.