• Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
• /
• v.11 no.3
• /
• pp.136-139
• /
• 2008

Purpose: Epidural morphine infusion has been used to control pain in cancer patients whose cancer pain can not be controlled high dose intravenous morphine injection. To study the effectiveness and side effects of epidural morphine for the treatment of cancer pain in terminal patients at Hospice Ward, we evaluated the change in morphine equivalent daily dose for effectiveness and complications of epidural morphine infusion. Methods: We retrospectively analyzed 24 terminal cancer patients who were treated with continuous epidural morphine between 2001 and 2004 at Hospice Ward of St. Vincent's Hospital. Results: The median of baseline morphine equivalent daily dose was 615 mg, whereas the median dose of initial epidural morphine was 16 mg. The median of morphine daily equivalent daily dose dropped from 615 mg to 274 mg in one week after epidural morphine infusion therapy (P-value=0.000). The median survival from the time of the first catheter insertion was 35 days. In 6 patients, the catheter was removed due to complications, however the catheter was reinserted in 3 patients. Conclusion: Cancer pain management by epidural morphine infusion is very effective method with low rate of severe complication.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.1 no.2
• /
• pp.199-202
• /
• 1988

Secure fixation is essential for continous epidural catheterization on a long-term-basis. Adhesive tape or surgical knots were commonly used for those patients, but the surgical knot method has a tendency to cause strangulation of catheter. Another invasive technique, subcutaneous tissue tunnelling is more safe than other methods but requires sophisticated technique and time. We employed a simple device using a blood transfusion set for patients who have epidural catheters placed safely un their backs. In 120 patients treated for postoperative and chronic pain by means of this technique, the results were as follows: 1) Five of 120 patients (4.2%) developed backache and pruritus, but there were no instances of respiratory depression, local infection and headache. 2) Nine of 120 patients (7.5%) failed booster-injections, but two cases were due to be non-technical errors. 3) The duration of fixation was 1~3 days in most cases (85%), the longest being for 21 days.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
• /
• v.30 no.8
• /
• pp.809-814
• /
• 1997

Continuous epidural pain block with a local anesthetic agents is a commonly employed technique for pain relief after thoracotomy. In this study, we evaluated the effectiveness of the continuous epidural pain block in 19 patients undergoing elective lateral or posterolatrral thoracotomy with control group(n=19) from November 1994 to July 1995, Epidural lidocaine and morphine mixtures were injected via an epidural catheter as a bolus after operation, and then bupivacaine and morphine mixtures were injected continuously following 5 or 6 days. The pain score, upper arm elevation(ROM score), and respiratory rate were significantly changed(P<0.05) from 30min after injection. The CO2 tension of arterial blood was decreased significantly(P<0.05) from 2hr after injection. The postoperative hospital days were decreased significantly(P<0.05). Side effects of the epidural pain block were urinary retention(n= 10), urticaria(n=2) and a case of headache. There was no postoperative lung atelectasis. We conclude that the continuous epidural pain block is good for prevention of the postoperative lung complication and early recovery after thoracotomy.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.11 no.1
• /
• pp.81-85
• /
• 1998

Background: Continuous caudal epidural block is a useful method in postoperative pain control after perianal surgery. But caudal epidural block has the potential of developing adverse effects such as urinary retention. The goal of this study is to evaluate the analgesic and adverse effect of bupivacaine with fentanyl through continuous caudal epidural block in relation to the concentration of bupivacaine. Methods: We divided the patients randomly into two groups. For group I(n=25) postoperative pain was controlled by continuous caudal epidural infusion at the rate of 4 ml/hr of 0.0625% bupivacaine with 3 ${\mu}g$/ml fentanyl: group II(n=14), 0.125% bupivacaine with 3 ${\mu}g$/ml fentanyl, respectively, for duration of 48 hours via epidural catheter. We evaluated pain scores with visual analogue scales at 30 mins, 6 hrs, 12 hrs, 24 hrs and 48 hrs after the operation and the incidence of adverse effect, especially urinary retention, for each group. Results: There were no significant differences in the pain score between group I and II. Urinary retention developed in 9 patients(36%) of group I, and 11 patients (78.6%) of group II. Other adverse effects such as pruritus, nausea, vomiting and respiratory depression developed in few patients. Conclusions: While performing continuous caudal epidural block with mixture of bupivacaine and fentanyl after the perianal surgery, we conclude 0.0625% bupivacaine solution is preferable to 0.125% bupivacaine solution because 0.0625% solution resulted in satisfactory analgesia with minimal incidence of adverse effect.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.66-71
• /
• 1989

It has been standard practice in many institutions to use a combination of a light general anesthesia and an epidural block for lower abdominal and pelvic surgery. This combination of a balanced anesthesia can provide various benefits to the patient such as less bleeding in the surgical field, the use of a lower concentration of general anesthetics, less muscle relaxant, and post operative pain management. However, there are several problems associated with hemodynamics such as bradycardia and hypotension etc. In order to block the pain of the high surgical area with a lumbar epidural puncture postoperatively, a large volume of local anesthetic is required and consequently an extensive blockade of sympathetic, sensory and motor functions can occur causing motor weakness, numbness and postural hypotension. Therefore, the patient is unable to have early ambulation postoperatively. In this study, thoracic epidural catheterization was undertaken to locate the tip of the catheter exactly at the surgical level for upper abdominal surgery, and was followed by general anesthesia. Twenty-one patients scheduled for upper abdominal surgery were selected. Fifteen of them had hepatobiliary operations and the remaining 6 had gastrectomies. Thoracic epidural punctures were performed mostly at T9-T10 (57.1%) and T8-T9. Neuromuscular blocking agents were not used in half of the cases and the, mean doses of relaxant were $3.5{\pm}1.0mg$ in gastrectomies, and $2.7{\pm}0.9mg$ in cases of hepatobiliary operation. Epidural morphine was injected 1 hour before the end of the operation for postoperative pain control. Eight patients did not require additional analgesics and the mean dose of epidural morphine was $2.2{\pm}0.9mg$, and 13 cases were given 0.125% epidural bupivacaine when patients complained of pain. Their initial doses of epidural morphine were $1.9{\pm}0.4mg$ and the mean duration of bupivacaine was 6 hours 20 minutes${\pm}40$ minutes. In conclusion. thoracic epidural analgesia is valuable to reduce postoperative pain in patients with upper abdominal surgery, However, it is not easy to maintain this balanced anesthesia with high epidural analgesia-and light general anesthesia for upper abdominal surgery because of marked hemodynamic changes. Therefore, further practice will be required.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.22 no.2
• /
• pp.158-162
• /
• 2009

Background: The loss of resistance (LOR) method is most commonly used to identify the epidural space. This method is thought to rely on the penetration of the ligamentum flavum. Unfortunately the exact morphology of the ligamentum flavum is variable at different vertebral levels. Especially, it has been pointed out that the lower cervical ligamentum flavum may be discontinuous in the midline in up to 50% of patients. Thus, the LOR method may be inaccurate to confirm the cervical epidural space. The aim of this study is to determine which method is the safest and most exact for confirming the cervical epidural space. Methods: 100 adult, chronic renal failure patients who were undergoing an arteriovenous bridge graft for hemodialysis at the upper arm under cervical epidural anesthesia were recruited for this study. During the cervical epidural puncture, we identified the cervical epidural space by subjectively feeling the resistance with using a finger just through the ligamentum flavum, and we also used the drip infusion method, the loss of resistance method using air, and the hanging drop method. By using 5 grades, we classified the extent of whether or not the techniques were effective. Results: Using the drip infusion method, we identify the epidural space in all the patients as ＋/＋＋ grade. The catheter insertion method was also successful in identifying those epidural spaces over a ${\pm}$ grade. The pseudo LOR was over ${\pm}$ grade in 47 patients. Conclusions: The combined LOR/hanging drop with drip infusion method is useful for confirming the cervical epidural space.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.9 no.1
• /
• pp.244-247
• /
• 1996

A 67 year old male with postherpetic neuralgia complained of right anterior chest throbbing pain and also allodynia. We performed thoracic epidural block with 0.25% bupivacaine and 1% lidocaine. Oral carbamazepine and imipramine were also administred concomitantly. One month later, patient complained of fatigue, anorexia, pruritis, jaundice, and dark urine. Liver function test values were significantly elevated then. Therefore we removed the epidural catheter and ceased all medication. Liver function test values decreased rapidly after discontinuation of medication. Hepatitis might have developed as result of drugs administered and could have been prevented if the patient had been monitored with regular clinical laboratory follow up. The purpose of this case report is emphasize the importance of early regular laboratory test to detect any possible side effect that may occur by administration of drugs during treatment of chronic pain.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.261-264
• /
• 1993

A 26 year old male patient had admitted to the department of plastic surgery for the treatment of skin defect of forearm and spastic contracture of right hand, attributable to burn injury following carbon monoxide intoxication. After receiving skin graft the patients tenotomy of flexor tendons, the patients was consulted to pain clinic for further evaluation and treatment of allodynia, hyperalgesia, and hyperpathia with marked emotional insufficiency. The patient was treated with stellate ganglion blocks, intermittent or continuous epidural blocks, and intermittent brachial plexus blocks for 3 months. with this treatment the patient's pain level improved to(VAS 10 to 4~5) and was discharged. The patient was readmitted 3 months later, due to the aggrzvation of pain. Brachial plexus blocks were given again by interscalene, supraclavicular, or axillary route, sometimes using a catheter, together with cervical epidural blocks. Tricyclic antidepressant was also prescribed. The results were remarkably good(VAS 2~3) and the patient did not require any further analgesic medication.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.58 no.1
• /
• pp.76-78
• /
• 2015

This report details a case of unexpected, severe post-operative cerebral edema following cranioplasty. We discuss the possible pathological mechanisms of this complication. A 50-year-old female was admitted to our department with sudden onset of stuporous consciousness. A brain computed tomography (CT) revealed a subarachnoid hemorrhage with intracranial hemorrhage and subdural hematoma. Emergency decompressive craniectomy and aneurysmal neck clipping were performed. Following recovery, the decision was made to proceed with an autologous cranioplasty. The cranioplasty procedure was free of complications. An epidural drain was placed and connected to a suction system during skin closure to avoid epidural blood accumulation. However, following the procedure, the patient had a seizure in the recovery room. An emergency brain CT scan revealed widespread cerebral edema, and the catheter drain was clamped. The increased intracranial pressure and cerebral edema were controlled with osmotic diuretics, corticosteroids, and antiepileptic drugs. The edema slowly subsided, but new low-density areas were noted in the brain on follow-up CT 1 week later. We speculated that placing the epidural drain on active suction may have caused an acute decrease in intracranial pressure and subsequent rapid expansion of the brain, which impaired autoregulation and led to reperfusion injury.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.98-100
• /
• 2008

We report a very rare case of a rapidly calcified chronic epidural hematoma (EDH) in a neonate. A 26-day-old female infant was referred to us from a regional hospital because of drowsy mentality and a seizure attack. She was delivered through caesarian section because normal spontaneous vaginal delivery was prolonged and failed. At birth, mild scalp swelling was found on the right frontal area. Scalp swelling was spontaneously resolved and she was discharged without any problems. On the 25th day after her birth, the baby presented with drowsiness and hypotonia following a generalized tonic-clonic seizure. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and a computed tomography (CT) scan revealed a chronic EDH that had a thick layer of calcification. A small burr-hole trephination was performed and a single silastic drainage catheter was inserted. After the operation, a total of 12 ml of liquefied hematoma was drained, and the patient's mentality improved from drowsiness to alertness. The patient was asymptomatic when discharged.