American Board of Surgery Qualifying Exam (ABS QE) Practice Test 2026 - Free Surgery Exam Practice Questions and Study Guide

Minute ventilation is defined as the total volume of air that is inhaled or exhaled from a person's lungs in one minute. To calculate this respiratory measurement, you multiply the tidal volume (TV), which is the amount of air inhaled or exhaled during normal breathing, by the respiratory rate (RR), which indicates the number of breaths taken per minute.

This relationship signifies that minute ventilation reflects both the size of each breath and how often those breaths are taken. Understanding this concept is crucial, especially in clinical settings where assessing a patient's ventilation status is essential.

Other options represent formulas that do not accurately reflect how minute ventilation is calculated. For example, adding tidal volume and respiratory rate does not provide a meaningful measure of ventilation, and using forced vital capacity (FVC) or functional residual capacity (FRC) in conjunction with tidal volume does not result in minute ventilation. Thus, the correct approach to determining minute ventilation is through the multiplication of tidal volume and respiratory rate.