• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.188-190
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• 1999

Background: The goal of this study was to evaluate the effects of gabapentin on postherpetic neuralgia. Gabapentin is a known anti-seizure medication, whose cellular mechanism of action is not well understood. Unlike other anticonvulsant, gabapentin has the advantage of a low toxicity and favorable side effect profile. If has been recently recommended for use in treatment of neuropathic pain. Methods: Twelve patients with a diagnosis of postherpetic neuralgia were prescribed gabapentin after failure of routine therapeutic regimens. The dose of gabapentin ranged 300~1800 mg per day, in three divided doses. If initial dose was ineffective and no side effects were noted, the dosages was increased by 300 mg a day in divided doses, to the maximum level for 2 weeks. Patients were evaluated for analgesia using visual analogue scale (VAS) pain score (0; no pain, 10; worst possible pain) and possible side effects. Results: A significant decrease in pain scores with gabapentin were noted. There were several mild side effects such as dizziness, somnolence, dry mouth, constipation and facial edema, without need of special treatment. Conclusions: Gabapentin may be a useful adjunct for treating intractable postherpetic neuralgia with a minimal side effects.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제61권4호
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• pp.530-536
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• 2018

We present two cases of unexpected postoperative intractable cervicalgia due to over-sized implant insertion during simple anterior cervical decompression and fusion (ACDF) or artificial disc replacement (ADR). These patients experienced severe cervicalgia mostly related to their neck motion even after standard cervical operations. In both cases, the restored disc heights after the operations were prominently greater than the preoperative disc heights. The patients had not responded to any of the conservative treatments, and unloading of these excessively distracted segments through ultimate revision surgery led to dramatic pain relief. This report emphasizes the increase in distractional forces that takes place after a standard ACDF or ADR, as well as the importance of a proper sized implant. It also includes the reviews of other biomechanical or clinical reports dealing with this issue, thereby cautioning the surgeons not to disregard these factors, which might have an adverse effect in patients with cervicalgia even after radiographically successful cervical procedures.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.173-178
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• 1977

A 51 year old man was admitted to the Thoracic and Cardiovascular Department of Kyungpook University Hospital on April 7, 1976, with chief complaints of orthopnea and the chest pain for about 3 months. Physical examination showed narrow pulse pressure, puffy face, engorged neck veins at sitting position, distant heart sound, enlarged liver and edematous upper extremities. The chest roentgenogram demonstrated markedly enlarged cardiac silhouette. Low voltage and the low to diphagic T`s were noted on the electrocardiogram. Paroxysmal ventricular tachycardia was developed intermittently and was subsided spontaneously. Repeated pericardiocentesis were performed each of which yielded from 100 to 300ml. but intractable cardiac failure was progressed. The bacteriology and cytology of the pericardial fluid were not revealed any specific findings. The pericardiectomy was performed to release the intractable cardiac tamponade. Pericardium was found to be thickened and cardiac constriction was noted. The thickened pericardium was easily removed. A large hen`s egg sized dark blue tumor mass occupied the anterior wall of the right atrium and two thumb tip sized pearl gray tumors were placed at the just below portion of the main pulmonary artery. The biopsy report revealed primary fibrosarcoma of the heart. The patient was improved from the symptoms of the cardiac failure during the postoperative course.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.81-87
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• 2005

Epicondylitis, as a tendinopathy characterized by fibroblast and microvascular hyperplasia, is a common musculoskeletal problem especially related with repetitive hand and wrist motion. It has a prevalence of between 0.2% and 5% in general population depending on the amount of exposure to manual labor jobs. Although it is known that the pathological lesions lie in the flexor or extensor common tendons, there could be collateral ligament lesions and/or reactive synovitis accompanied, which may make a case unresponsive to the treatment aimed only at the tendinopathy. Epicondylitis is easy to diagnose with typical pain, tenderness, and positive provocation tests. However, many conditions can mimic epicondylitis that further imaging or electrodiagnostic studies should be undertaken to exclude other possible problems. Ultrasonography provides information about the existence and extent of tendinopathy with relatively high specificity. Magnetic resonance imaging is often required to rule out other problems and confirm the diagnosis of the cases intractable to long term treatment. Many options of treatment are available for epicondylitis while numerous conflicting evidences have been noted, debating one treatment method is better than the others. Since it was reported that over 80% of epicondylitis improved within a year no matter what was done as treatment, it is a challenge to make accurate diagnosis and combine effective therapeutic regimens for the 20% of intractable cases.

• 대한약침학회지
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• 제4권2호
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• pp.87-93
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• 2001

Objectives : Through the literature on the effect of Aconiti Cliare Tuber, Radix Aconiti, we are finding out the clinical posibility and revealing the more effective to intractable disease. Methods : We inverstigated the literatures of Oriental Medicine and experimental reports about Aconiti Cliare Tuber, Radix Aconiti. Results : 1. The taste of Aconiti Cliare Tuber, Radix Aconiti is hot, sweet, bitter, warm and hot, and the effect is dehumidification, warm up and relieve the pain, so it can be used for arthritis, hemiplegia, carpopedal spasm, sciatica, cancer, numbness. 2. A toxic constituent of Aconiti Cliare Tuber, Radix Aconitiis is induced by aconitine alkaloid, develope toxic symptoms and result in death. So it needs suitabe treatment for safety. 3. It is known that the toxicopathy due to Radix Aconiti was 3-30g(dosage for adult) and Aconiti Ciliare Tuber was 1-9g. But only using aconitine alkaloid to oral feeding, the toxicopathy due to 0.2mg/kg and lethal dose is 3-4mg. So we using this for treating, we must be careful and need more varialble study about toxicopathy, lethal dose. 4. On clinical treatment, we thought Aconiti Cliare Tuber, Radix Aconiti is so effective to intractable disease after control the toxicity, it may be need variable study on toxicity and clinical effects.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제30권6호
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• pp.749-754
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• 2001

Objective : The IDET(Intradiscal electrothermal therapy) appears as a new therapeutic modality for intractable discogenic back pain. We carried out a prospective study to analyze and evaluate the therapeutic effects of IDET. Methods & Results : During a six month period, we performed IDET in 39 patients with chronic low back pain using RITA Model 30 Electrosurgical device. The patients included 21 men and 18 women. The mean patient age was 50.2 years(range 21-73 years). All patients underwent preoperative plain radiography and MRI for excluding non-discogenic back pain. We conducted discography-CT to reveal painful discs in all patients. During the study, we measured intradiscal pressure subjectively. The area of annular tear, which identified with post-discography CT scan, was coagulated in $90^{\circ}C$ of temperature for 15 minutes. Of the 17 patients who were followed up more than three months after surgery, the 10 patients(58.8%) experienced clinical improvement. Three patients had high intradiscal pressure on discography, other three patients had loss of disc height more than 30% of normal on plain radiography, and one patient suffered from postoperative epidural abscess. All of these patients were included in the remaining no improvement group(41.2%). Conclusion : The IDET procedure could be an alternative modality for discogenic back pain. It appears that a patient who has low intradiscal pressure on discography and intact disc height on plain radiography is considered a good candidate for IDET.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제34권2호
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• pp.156-164
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• 2021

Several types of pain occur following spinal cord injury (SCI); however, neuropathic pain (NP) is one of the most intractable. Invasive and non-invasive brain stimulation techniques have been studied in clinical trials to treat chronic NP following SCI. The evidence for invasive stimulation including motor cortex and deep brain stimulation via the use of implanted electrodes to reduce SCI-related NP remains limited, due to the small scale of existing studies. The lower risk of complications associated with non-invasive stimulation, including transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) and repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation (rTMS), provide potentially attractive alternative central neuromodulation techniques. Compared to rTMS, tDCS is technically easier to apply, more affordable, available, and potentially feasible for home use. Accordingly, several new studies have investigated the efficacy of tDCS to treat NP after SCI. In this review, articles relating to the mechanisms, clinical efficacy and safety of tDCS on SCI-related NP were searched from inception to December 2019. Six clinical trials, including five randomized placebo-controlled trials and one prospective controlled trial, were included for evidence specific to the efficacy of tDCS for treating SCI-related NP. The mechanisms of action of tDCS are complex and not fully understood. Several factors including stimulation parameters and individual patient characteristics may affect the efficacy of tDCS intervention. Current evidence to support the efficacy of utilizing tDCS for relieving chronic NP after SCI remains limited. Further strong evidence is needed to confirm the efficacy of tDCS intervention for treating SCI-related NP.

• 생약학회지
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• 제46권3호
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• pp.229-233
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• 2015

The anti-nociceptive effect of an ethanol extract and its various solvent fractions from Curcuma longa Linne ethanol extract was studied using the writhing test in mice. Different fractions by various solvent extraction from Curcuma longa Linne ethanol extract were administered orally 1 hr or time-course (0.5, 1, 2 and 5 hr) before intraperitoneal injection of acetic acid. After treatment with 30% ethanol extract and n-butanol fraction, CB-1, at a dose of 250 mg/kg, the significant writhing responses were 87.5 ± 13.4 (inhibition rate 31%, p<0.01) and 75.1 ± 11.1 (inhibition rate 41%, p<0.01) lower than the control group. At the dose of CB-1 50 mg/kg and 250 mg/kg, CB-1 showed a similar activity comparing to diclofenac of 10 mg/kg. A time-course experiment was performed, which involved oral administration of CB-1 (250 mg/kg) at 0, 0.5, 1, 2, and 5 hr before acetic acid intraperitoneal injection. The most effective time of CB-1 was 30 min before treatment and persisting until 2 hr. This study showed that Curcuma longa Linne has anti-nociceptive properties comparable with those of diclofenac, which suggests promise for the treatment of intractable visceral pain in humans. Major components of the active fraction are identified as curcumin, cyclocurcumin and demethoxycurcumin.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제54권3호
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• pp.268-271
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• 2013

Occipital neuralgia is a rare pain syndrome characterized by periodic lancinating pain involving the occipital nerve complex. We present a unique case of entrapment of the greater occipital nerve (GON) within the semispinalis capitis, which was thought to be the cause of occipital neuralgia. A 66-year-old woman with refractory left occipital neuralgia revealed an abnormally low-loop of the left posterior inferior cerebellar artery on the magnetic resonance imaging, suggesting possible vascular compression of the upper cervical roots. During exploration, however, the GON was found to be entrapped at the perforation site of the semispinalis capitis. There was no other compression of the GON or of C1 and C2 dorsal roots in their intracranial course. Postoperatively, the patient experienced almost complete relief of typical neuralgic pain. Although occipital neuralgia has been reported to occur by stretching of the GON by inferior oblique muscle or C1-C2 arthrosis, peripheral compression in the transmuscular course of the GON in the semispinalis capitis as a cause of refractory occipital neuralgia has not been reported and this should be considered when assessing surgical options for refractory occipital neuralgia.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제21권2호
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• pp.373-378
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• 1988

Since the introduction of percutaneous; transluminal coronary angioplasty[PTCA] by Grunt-zig in 1977, this is widely used in some patients with coronary artery disease and is an effective alternative to surgery for many patients. Indications for emergency coronary artery bypass graft[CABG] after PTCA are prolonged chest pain, worsening of coronary artery obstruction, "current of injury" by electrocardiogram, cardiogenic shock, and in a lesser incidence, ventricular fibrillation, coronary artery dissection[without obstruction], heart block, and intractable cardiac arrest. Recently, we have experienced one case of emergency CABG following unsuccessful PTCA. The patient was 54 year-old male and admitted with complaint of angina pectoris. The routine electrocardiogram revealed within normal limit. The treadmill test revealed severe chest pain after 2 min. exercise. Coronary cineangiogram revealed 95% segmental stenosis of the proximal right coronary artery. Our cardiologist was planned PTCA. During PTCA, severe chest pain and ischemic pattern on electrocardiogram were developed. But they were not relieved even by morphine and nitroglycerin till 90 min. So we performed emergency single coronary artery bypass graft from aorta to proximal right coronary artery with great saphenous vein. The patient had an excellent postoperative recovery and was free from anginal attack. He has shown striking improvement in general status[NYHA functional class 1] during 6 months after operation.operation.