Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Certification 2025 – 400 Free Practice Questions to Pass the Exam

The presence of tender adenexa during a physical exam indicates potential issues related to nearby structures, such as the fallopian tubes and ovaries. In the context of an ectopic pregnancy, the adenexa (the region adjacent to the uterus) may become inflamed or tender due to the implantation of the embryo outside of the uterine cavity, often within a fallopian tube. This tenderness is a key clinical finding that suggests the possibility of an ectopic pregnancy.

In contrast, the other options do not align with common findings associated with ectopic pregnancies. A pulsatile mass in the abdomen could indicate a different kind of pathology such as an abdominal aortic aneurysm. A happy emotional state is irrelevant to physical exam findings and does not provide any diagnostic information in this context. A normal uterine size would also be inconsistent with the expectations of an ectopic pregnancy, where the uterine size typically remains unchanged in early cases, but additional signs would signal an abnormal location for the pregnancy. Thus, tender adenexa stands out as the most suggestive finding for diagnosing an ectopic pregnancy.