Postoperative Procedures Practice Questions for the CST
Postoperative Procedures is 10 of the 150 scored questions. It covers the end of the case: taking down the field safely, caring for and moving the patient, reporting what was used, and turning over and restocking the room.
175 questions across every content area in 4 hours, with a score for postoperative procedures and your total against the 98-of-150 passing score.
Free postoperative procedures drill- 30 original postoperative procedures questions, each explained
- 10 of 150 scored questions on the real exam (outline I.C)
- Perioperative Care content area (65% of the exam)
During the debrief, the scrub person mentions that the light cable flickered during the case. What should happen to the cable?
What our postoperative procedures questions cover
- Removing drapes and equipment from the patient and cleaning the patient before transfer
- Reporting abnormal findings such as bleeding, hematoma or rash
- Reporting medication and solution amounts and quantitative blood loss
- Removing positioning devices and transferring the patient to the stretcher
- Disposing of sharps, contaminated waste and drapes under Standard Precautions
- The case debrief, room cleanup, wiping down equipment and restocking
This list is our own summary of the outline tasks, written for practice. NBSTSA publishes the full task list in the CST Examination Content Outline.
Drill postoperative procedures, then sit the full exam
175 questions across every content area in 4 hours, with a score for postoperative procedures and your total against the 98-of-150 passing score.
Free postoperative procedures drillIdeas the questions test most
- Drapes come off after the dressing is on, rolled away from the incision.
- The scrubbed surgical technologist disposes of the sharps from the field.
- Blood loss = sponge wet weight minus dry weight (1 g ≈ 1 mL) plus canister volume minus irrigation.
Start the free postoperative procedures drill · Perioperative Care drill · Full 175-question mock exam
Common questions
How many CST questions cover postoperative procedures?
Postoperative Procedures is 10 of the 150 scored questions, part of the Perioperative Care content area.
Is room turnover on the CST exam?
Yes. The outline includes room cleanup and restocking, wiping down equipment housekeeping does not clean, resetting the room for the next case and end-of-day restocking.
175 questions across every content area in 4 hours, with a score for postoperative procedures and your total against the 98-of-150 passing score.
Free postoperative procedures drillMore CST subject areas
- Preoperative Preparation · Perioperative Care
- Intraoperative Procedures · Perioperative Care
- Administrative and Personnel · Ancillary Duties
- Sterilization and Equipment · Ancillary Duties
- Anatomy and Physiology · Basic Science
- Microbiology · Basic Science
- Surgical Pharmacology · Basic Science
- Surgical Instruments · Perioperative Care
Content areas, subject areas, item counts and tasks: NBSTSA: CST certification (format, passing score, content areas) · NBSTSA: CST Examination Content Outline, checked November 2026.
CST® and Certified Surgical Technologist® are registered marks of the National Board of Surgical Technology and Surgical Assisting (NBSTSA). Independent practice, not affiliated with or endorsed by NBSTSA, the Association of Surgical Technologists (AST) or PSI. Our questions are original and are not taken from the CST exam.