Surgery is the second-largest subject on the FMGE: 35 to 38 marks every session, second only to Medicine. The good news? Of the 19 subjects on the paper, Surgery is one of the three most predictable. Pull apart nine years of FMGE PYQs and twelve topics keep returning — often with the same named sign as the giveaway.
This is the recurring map. Drill these twelve and you secure roughly 28 of the 35–38 Surgery marks before you touch the marginal items.
Quick Answer
FMGE Surgery repeats 12 high-yield topics: thyroid swellings, hernias, breast cancer, burns (Rule of Nines), acute abdomen, GI bleed, fractures & orthopaedic basics, urology stones, head injury, neck swellings, surgical instruments, and pre-/post-operative care. Together they carry 28–32 of the 35–38 Surgery marks every session.
1 The 12 Surgery topics that repeat every session
| # | Topic | Typical Qs/session | Most-tested anchor |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Thyroid swellings | 2–3 | Solitary nodule work-up, papillary vs follicular, MEN syndromes |
| 2 | Hernias | 2 | Direct vs indirect, Lichtenstein repair, sliding hernia |
| 3 | Breast cancer | 2–3 | Triple assessment, sentinel node, BRCA, staging |
| 4 | Burns | 2 | Rule of Nines, Parkland formula, depth classification |
| 5 | Acute abdomen | 3 | Appendicitis signs, perforation, intestinal obstruction |
| 6 | Upper & lower GI bleed | 1–2 | First step, varices, peptic ulcer scoring |
| 7 | Fractures & ortho basics | 3 | Salter-Harris, Garden, named eponyms |
| 8 | Urology stones & obstruction | 2 | Stone composition, ESWL/PCNL, BPH first-line |
| 9 | Head injury | 1–2 | EDH vs SDH on CT, GCS, lucid interval |
| 10 | Neck swellings | 2 | Branchial vs thyroglossal, cystic hygroma |
| 11 | Surgical instruments | 2–3 | Image-based naming, indication of use |
| 12 | Pre/post-op care & ATLS | 2 | Primary survey, fluid resuscitation, sepsis bundles |
2 Named signs & eponyms FMGE keeps returning to
Surgery loves an eponym. Memorise the 18 below and you absorb roughly six to eight marks in pure recognition:
Abdomen & GI
- Murphy sign → acute cholecystitis
- McBurney point → appendicitis
- Rovsing sign → appendicitis
- Cullen / Grey-Turner → haemorrhagic pancreatitis
- Charcot triad → ascending cholangitis
- Reynolds pentad → suppurative cholangitis
- Courvoisier law → periampullary carcinoma
Trauma, ortho & vascular
- Battle sign → basilar skull fracture
- Raccoon eyes → anterior cranial fossa fracture
- Beck triad → cardiac tamponade
- Cushing reflex → raised ICP
- Tinel / Phalen sign → carpal tunnel
- Apley grind → meniscal tear
- Homans sign → DVT (now low yield clinically, still asked)
3 Burns: the formula that returns every session
Burns has appeared on every FMGE in the last nine years. Two things are tested almost without fail:
- →Rule of Nines (adult): head 9, each arm 9, anterior trunk 18, posterior trunk 18, each leg 18, perineum 1.
- →Rule of Nines (paediatric): head 18, each leg 14, rest unchanged. The size discrepancy is the trap.
- →Parkland formula: 4 mL × weight (kg) × %TBSA — half in first 8 h, half in next 16 h. Lactated Ringer is the fluid of choice.
- →Depth recall: first-degree (epidermis), superficial partial (papillary dermis, blanching), deep partial (reticular dermis), full-thickness (subcutaneous, painless, eschar).
Walk into the exam with the formula and the paediatric variant and you collect the two burns marks in roughly 60 seconds.
4 Surgical instruments: the silent 2–3 marks
Image-based instrument identification has become a fixed feature of FMGE Surgery sections. Twenty instruments cover almost everything tested:
- →Allis, Babcock, Lane forceps — tissue holding spectrum (toothed → atraumatic)
- →Doyen retractor — abdominal wall retraction
- →Deaver retractor — deep abdominal retraction
- →Kocher haemostat — toothed haemostatic clamp
- →Spencer Wells & mosquito — haemostats by size
- →Mayo, Metzenbaum scissors — heavy vs delicate
- →Lithotomy stirrups, Trendelenburg position — positioning recall
- →Ryle tube, Foley catheter, Malecot drain — tube identification
The FMGEPrep Image Bank includes a dedicated instrument set tagged the way the FMGE asks them.
5 Trap distractors aspirants pick — and the right read
- ×Investigation of choice for solitary thyroid nodule — trap is thyroid scan; correct is FNAC (Bethesda category drives next step).
- ×Most common sentinel node biopsy tracer — trap is methylene blue alone; correct is the combined isotope + dye technique for highest accuracy.
- ×EDH vs SDH on CT — trap is “crescent for both”; correct is biconvex lens for EDH (does not cross sutures), crescent for SDH (crosses sutures).
- ×First step in shock from blunt abdomen — trap is CT; correct is FAST (or DPL if FAST unavailable) before stabilisation.
- ×BPH first-line drug — trap is finasteride alone; correct is alpha-blocker (tamsulosin) for symptomatic relief.
6 A 21-day Surgery PYQ drill schedule
| Days | Topics | Daily MCQ target |
|---|---|---|
| 1–3 | Thyroid + breast + neck swellings | 45 MCQs |
| 4–6 | Hernias + acute abdomen + GI bleed | 50 MCQs |
| 7–9 | Burns + trauma + ATLS | 40 MCQs + 10 instruments |
| 10–12 | Fractures + ortho eponyms | 45 MCQs + 10 X-rays |
| 13–15 | Urology + head injury + named signs | 45 MCQs |
| 16–18 | Pre/post-op care + sepsis bundles + paediatric surgery | 40 MCQs |
| 19–21 | Mixed Surgery grand-test set | 2 sets of 60 timed |
Pair with the FMGEPrep Countdown Planner for an adaptive daily target.
What FMGEPrep does about this
Every Surgery PYQ on FMGEPrep is tagged by topic, named sign, and the trap distractor it tests. Filter by topic, by year, or by image vs text. Image-bank instruments and trauma X-rays are bundled, and our FMGE Surgery PYQ Bank exposes the full nine-year repeat list.
Frequently asked questions
How many Surgery questions are in the FMGE?
FMGE Surgery carries 35–38 questions every session, second only to Medicine. Eighty per cent of those marks come from twelve recurring topics, including thyroid, hernias, breast, burns, fractures and acute abdomen.
What is the most repeated FMGE Surgery topic?
Acute abdomen and burns appear on essentially every FMGE. Acute appendicitis signs, intestinal obstruction first-step, Rule of Nines and Parkland formula are tested at near-100% frequency across the last nine years of papers.
Are surgical instruments asked in FMGE?
Yes. Two to three image-based instrument questions appear in every recent FMGE. The recurring set includes Allis/Babcock forceps, Doyen and Deaver retractors, Mayo and Metzenbaum scissors, Foley catheter and Ryle tube identification.
How do I revise FMGE Surgery in 21 days?
Use the schedule above — three-day blocks per topic cluster with 40–50 MCQs daily, then a final mixed grand-test set. Skip new theory; revise the twelve high-yield topics through PYQs and worked explanations only.
What is the most-tested named sign in FMGE Surgery?
Murphy sign (cholecystitis), McBurney point (appendicitis), Battle sign (basilar skull fracture), Beck triad (cardiac tamponade) and Cullen/Grey-Turner (haemorrhagic pancreatitis) are the most consistently tested across the last nine years.
What is the Parkland formula for FMGE?
Parkland formula: 4 mL × body weight (kg) × %TBSA burned, with half administered in the first 8 h and the remainder over the next 16 h. The fluid of choice is lactated Ringer. Paediatric Rule-of-Nines differs from adult — that is the typical trap.
Drill 9 years of FMGE Surgery PYQs
Tagged by topic, named sign, and trap distractor. Instrument and X-ray images bundled. Free trial without a credit card.
Open the FMGE Surgery PYQ Bank →