What is the order of structures or spaces that a surgeon will pass through to operate on a human lung?

Question

A.  skin -> intercostal muscles -> parietal pleural membrane -> pleural cavity -> visceral pleural membrane -> lung tissue
B.  skin -> pleural cavity -> intercostal muscles -> visceral pleural membrane -> parietal pleural membrane -> lung tissue
C.  skin -> visceral pleural membrane -> intercostal muscles -> pleural cavity -> parietal pleural membrane -> lung tissue
D.  skin -> intercostal muscles -> visceral pleural membrane -> pleural cavity -> parietal pleural membrane -> lung tissue
E.  skin -> intercostal muscles -> pleural cavity -> parietal pleural membrane -> visceral pleural membrane -> lung tissue

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
What type of thinking is required?

Gather Content
What do you already know about the lungs? What other information is related to the question?
 
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
 
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
 

Answer 1

A.  skin -> intercostal muscles -> parietal pleural membrane -> pleural cavity -> visceral pleural membrane -> lung tissue

Clarify Question
What is the key concept addressed by the question?
        · The question is asking you to describe, from most superficial to most deep, the layers of the thoracic cavity and lung.
What type of thinking is required?
        · Apply level:
            o You are being asked to take what you already know and use, or apply, it to describe the structure of the lung and the surround chest cavity.

Gather Content
What do you already know about the lungs? What other information is related to the question?
        · The intercostal muscles are found in association with the ribcage.
        · Parietal refers to membrane that lines a cavity.
        · Lungs sit within the pleural cavity.
        · Visceral membrane is membrane that directly covers an organ.
 
Choose Answer
Given what you now know, what information is most likely to produce the correct answer?
        · A surgeon would first have to cut through the skin.
        · Recall that the lungs are protected by the ribs, so the intercostal muscles, would be the next layer that would be encountered.
        · The lungs are housed in the pleural cavity, and the outer boundary of that cavity is the parietal pleural membrane.
        · The inner layer of the pleural cavity, which is also the layer that touches the lung, is the visceral pleural membrane.
 
Reflect on Process
Did your problem-solving process lead you to the correct answer? If not, where did the process break down or lead you astray? How can you revise your approach to produce a more desirable result?
        · Apply level:
            o Answering this question correctly depended on your ability to use the anatomy of the lungs and the surrounding area in a new situation. If you got an incorrect answer, did you remember that the lungs are surround by the ribcage and intercostal muscles, or that the pleural cavity has parietal pleura as its outer boundary and visceral pleural as its inner membrane? Did you have trouble extending the anatomical features of the lungs and their surrounding tissue to determine the correct answer?