• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
• /
• v.53 no.9
• /
• pp.824-829
• /
• 2010

The safety and effectiveness of colonoscopy in the investigation of lower gastrointestinal tract pathology in children has been established for more than 2 decades in Korea. The skill and experience have since advanced to the point that both diagnostic and therapeutic colonoscopy are now routinely performed by most pediatric gastroenterologists. Pediatric colonoscopy differs significantly from its adult parallels in nearly every aspect including patient and parent management and preparation, selection criteria for sedation and general anesthetic, bowel preparation, expected diagnoses, instrument selection, imperative for terminal ileal intubation, and requirement for biopsies from macroscopically normal mucosa. Investigation of inflammatory bowel disease, whether for diagnosis or follow-up evaluation, and suspected colonic polyps are the most common indication for pediatric colonoscopy. The child who presents with signs and symptoms of lower gastrointestinal disorder should undergo colonoscopy with biopsy to make the diagnosis, as well as to help determine the appropriate therapy. This review introduces practical information on pediatric colonoscopy, the author's experiences, and the role of colonoscopic examination in the diagnosis and treatment of pediatric lower gastrointestinal disorders.

• Asian-Australasian Journal of Animal Sciences
• /
• v.26 no.4
• /
• pp.545-551
• /
• 2013

This study aimed to present a mouse model of ovalbumin (OVA) induced allergic diarrhea under a sub-barrier system and investigate the development of gut microbiota in this model. Male BALB/c mice were systemically sensitized with OVA or sham-sensitized with saline, and followed by oral OVA intubation, leading to OVA-specific acute diarrhea. Compared with sham-sensitized mice, sera OVA-specific IgG1 and total IgE in OVA-sensitized mice were dramatically elevated, and the number of mast cells was greatly increased in the jejunum of the OVA-sensitized mice. Principle component analysis of the DGGE profile showed that samples from group of OVA-sensitized mice and group of sham-sensitized mice were scattered into two different regions. Real-time PCR analysis showed that the number of 16S rRNA gene copies of Lactobacillus in the colon of OVA-sensitized mice decreased significantly, while there was no significant difference in the number of Bifidobacterium and total bacteria. In conclusion, OVA-specific allergic diarrhea was successfully induced under a sub-barrier system, and changes of allergic reactions during induction was coupled with changes in gut microbiota, especially the number of colonic Lactobacillus, but the role of gut microbiota in the development of food allergic reactions needs to be further evaluated.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
• /
• v.14 no.12
• /
• pp.7107-7110
• /
• 2013

Malignant bowel obstruction (MBO), an occasional complication in patients with advanced urological cancer, causes gastrointestinal symptoms such as nausea and vomiting leading to suffering which severely impairs quality of life (QOL). Drug therapy, especially octreotide, a synthetic analog of somatostatin, is reportedly effective in controlling the symptoms of MBO. In the present study, we administered octreotide to urological cancer patients with MBO and evaluated the improvement of subjective symptoms, oral intake, and nasogastric intubation. Fourteen terminally ill urological cancer patients suffering with MBO were included (age range 55-92, 10 male, 4 female). Octreotide was administered at $300{\mu}g/day$ to those patients subcutaneously as a continuous injection. Significant improvements in subjective symptoms were observed in thirteen patients (92.8%), and ten patients (71.4%) were able to resume oral intake. Four patients required nasogastric drainage before the administration of octreotide, but nasogastric intubation was discontinued in all these cases after the use of octreotide. Early initiation of octreotide resulted in better improvement of MBO symptoms, and no adverse event was observed in any of the patients. These results revealed that $300{\mu}g/day$ dose of octreotide is safe and effective for managing gastrointestinal symptoms of terminally ill urological cancer patients with MBO. We also recommend starting the treatment with ocreotide as soon as MBO is diagnosed.

• Clinical Endoscopy
• /
• v.56 no.4
• /
• pp.446-452
• /
• 2023

Background/Aims: Colonoscopy for screening is associated with unpleasant experiences for patients, and abdominal compression devices have been developed to minimize these problems. However, there is a paucity of data supporting the therapeutic benefits of this strategy. This study examined the effects of using an abdominal compression device during colonoscopy on the cecal intubation time (CIT), abdominal compression, patient comfort, and postural changes. Methods: We searched PubMed and Scopus (from inception to November 2021) for randomized controlled trials that assessed the effects of an abdominal compression device during colonoscopy on CIT, abdominal compression, patient comfort, and postural change. A random-effects meta-analysis was performed. Weighted mean differences (WMDs) and Mantel-Haenszel odds ratios (ORs) were calculated. Results: Our pooled analysis of seven randomized controlled trials revealed that abdominal compression devices significantly reduced CIT (WMD, -0.76 [-1.49 to -0.03] minutes; p=0.04), abdominal compression (OR, 0.52; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.28-0.94; p=0.03), and postural changes (OR, 0.46; 95% CI, 0.27-0.78; p=0.004) during colonoscopy. However, our results did not show a significant change in patient comfort (WMD, -0.48; 95% CI, -1.05 to 0.08; p=0.09) when using an abdominal compression device. Conclusions: Our findings demonstrate that employing an abdominal compression device may reduce CIT, abdominal compression, and postural change but have no impact on patient comfort.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.6 no.2
• /
• pp.123-129
• /
• 2008

A 36-year-old female was transferred to our emergency medical center with decreased mental status after a 6.0 g propafenone overdose because of domestic disturbance. She had no previous history of epilepsy, diabetes mellitus, hypertension or psychiatric illness. Before presenting to our center, gastrointestinal decontamination, charcoal administration, and endotracheal intubation due to bradycardia and generalized seizure had been performed. Soon after hospital arrival, at 5 h after ingestion, she collapsed into shock and fatal arrhythmia. We successfully resuscitated the patient with amiodarone, sodium bicarbonate, a large volume of normal saline, calcium, and ventilator care. At 23 h after ingestion, she was fully recovered and had no subjective signs or symptoms. To our knowledge, this is the first case report of intentional propafenone overdose in Korea, which we report with reviews of the previous literature.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Laryngology, Phoniatrics and Logopedics
• /
• v.31 no.2
• /
• pp.83-86
• /
• 2020

Patients with tracheoesophageal fistula show signs of aspiration, possibly leading to pneumonia, which could be fatal to bed-ridden patients. Tracheoesophageal fistula occurs as a complication of intubation, tracheostomy tube insertion and nasogastric tube insertion. Possible etiology is pressure and ischemic necrosis given by tracheostomy tube and nasogastric tube to trachea and esophagus; or in some cases, larynx and hypopharynx. Meanwhile, for repair of tracheoesophageal fistula, transcervical approach can be considered but takes relatively long operation time and is not appropriate for patients with underlying diseases. We report a case of tracheoesophageal fistula complicated several years after tracheostomy tube and nasogastric tube insertion who came to medical attention with signs of aspiration. Authors successfully performed repair of the fistula under laryngeal microsurgery approach without skin incision and dissection, and thereby report the experience with review of literature.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.47 no.3
• /
• pp.365-373
• /
• 1999

Background: Despite widespread use of tracheostomy in intensive care unit, it is still controversial to define the best timing from endotracheal intubation to tracheostomy under prolonged mechanical ventilation. Early tracheostomy has an advantage of easy airway maintenance and enhanced patient mobility whereas a disadvantage in view of nosocomial infection and tracheal stenosis. However, there is a controversy about the proper timing of tracheostomy. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of the 35 medical and 15 surgical ICU patients who had admitted to Ewha Womans University Mokdong Hospital from January 1996 to August 1998 with the observation of APACHE III score, occurrence of nosocomial infections, and clinical outcomes during 28 days from tracheostomy in terms of early (n=25) vs. late (n=25) tracheostomy. We defined the reference day of early and late tracheostomy as 7th day from intubation. Results: The number of patients were 25 each in early and late tracheostomy group. The mean age were $48{\pm}18$ years in early tracheostomy group and $63{\pm}17$ years in late tracheostomy group, showing younger in early tracheostomy group. The median duration of intubation prior to tracheostomy was 3 days and 13 days in early and late tracheostomy groups. Organs that caused primary problem were nervous system in 27 cases(54%), pulmonary 14(28%), cardiovascular 4(8%), gastrointestinal 4(8%) and genitourinary 1(2%) in the decreasing order. Prolonged ventilation was the most common reason for the purpose of tracheostomy in both groups. APACHE m scores at each time of intubation and tracheostomy were slightly higher in late tracheostomy group but not significant statistically. Day to day APACHE III scores were not different between two groups with observation upto 7th day after tracheostomy, Occurrence of nosocomial infections, weaning from mechanical ventilation, and mortality showed no significant difference between two groups with observation of 28 days from tracheostomy. The mortality was increased as the APACHE m score upto 7 days after tracheostomy increased, but there were no increment for the mortality in terms of the time of tracheostomy and the days of ventilator use before tracheostomy, Conclusion: The early tracheostomy seems to have no benefit with respect to severity of illness, nosocomial infection, duration of ventilatory support, and mortality. It suggests that the time of tracheostomy is better to be decided on clinical judgement in each case. And in near future, prospective, randomized case-control study is required to confirm these results.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Clinical Toxicology
• /
• v.9 no.2
• /
• pp.95-100
• /
• 2011

Purpose: Ingestion of puffer fish can be poisonous due to the presence of potent neurotoxins such as tetrodotoxin (TTX) found in its tissues. There are few clinical reports related to TTX. We performed this study to evaluate the clinical characteristics of TTX poisoning. Methods: We conducted a retrospective study of the 41 patients diagnosed with TTX poisoning who visited the Seoul Asan medical center from July 2004 and December 2010. A review of patients' electronic medical records and patient telephone interviews were conducted. Diagnosis of TTX poisoning was confirmed by observing the casual link between puffer fish consumption and the development of typical TTX intoxication symptoms. Results: The mean age of the patients included in the study was 46.6 years. The highest incidence of intoxication was observed in patients in their 50s (10 patients). Seasonal distribution of intoxication events included 10 in spring, 7 in summer, 10 in fall, and 14 in winter. In most cases, symptoms occurred within 1 hour of ingestion. A wide range of symptoms were associated with puffer fish ingestion affecting multiple body systems including neuromuscular (27 patients), gastrointestinal (19 patients), and cardiopulmonary/vascular (19 patients). All patients were treated with symptomatic and supportive therapy and recovered completely, without sequelae, within 48 hours. In three cases, ventilator support was required. Conclusion: TTX poisoning is not seasonally related, and patients admitted to the emergency room were observed with a wide range of symptoms. Where TTX poisoning is diagnosed, supportive therapy should be performed. Early intubation and ventilation is important, especially is cases of respiratory failure.