• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• 제36권3호
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• pp.277-282
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• 2009

Purpose: The vegetative state is a clinical condition with complete unawareness of self and environment, but with preservation of brain - stem functions. Vegetative patients may have nosocomial infections in their wounds, like pressure sores and infected craniums after cranioplasties. Usually flap surgery is necessary for those wounds, but decision of undergoing surgery is difficult because of various adverse conditions of vegetative patients. We share our experience of several successful flap surgeries in vegetative patients, and evaluate obstacles and requirements to get satisfactory results. Methods: From December 2005 to September 2008, a total of 4 vegetative patients underwent surgeries. In 2 patients with infected artificial craniums, scalp reconstructions with free flaps were performed. In other 2 patients with huge pressure sores with sepsis, island flap coverage of wounds was done. Retrospective study was done on hospital day, vegetative period, number of surgeries done, underlying diseases, causative bacteria, and contents of informed consent. Results: Mean hospital day was 14 months and mean vegetative period was 17.5 months. Patients underwent average of 4.5 surgeries under general anesthesia. There were several underlying diseases like hypertension, DM, CHF and chronic anemia. MRSA(Methicilin - resistant Staphylococcus Aureus) was cultured from every patient's wounds. Informed consent included a warning for high mortality and a need of attentive familial cooperation. Conclusion: There are three requirements for doing flap surgeries in vegetative patients. First, to prevent aggravation of brain damage and underlying diseases by general anesthesia, multidisciplinary team approach is needed. Second, operation should be beneficial for prolonging patient's lifespan. Third, because postoperative care is very difficult and long hospitalization is needed, detailed informed consent and highly cooperative attitude of family should be confirmed before operation.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• 제47권5호
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• pp.411-418
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• 2020

Background Excessive bleeding is one of the most severe complications of orthognathic surgery (OGS). This study investigated the associations of intraoperative blood loss and surgical time with the direction of maxillary movement. Methods This retrospective study involved patients who underwent OGS from October 2017 to February 2020. They were classified based on whether maxillary setback was performed into groups A1 and B1, respectively. Relative blood loss (RBL, %) was used as an indicator to compare intraoperative blood loss between the two groups. The surgical time of the two groups was also measured. Subsequently, the patients were reclassified based on whether posterior impaction of the maxilla was performed into groups A2 and B2, respectively. RBL and surgical time were measured in the two groups. Simple linear and multiple regression analyses were performed. P-values <0.05 were considered to indicate statistical significance. Results Eighteen patients were included. The RBL and surgical time for the groups were: A1, 13.15%±5.99% and 194.37±42.04 minutes; B1, 12.41%±1.89% and 196.50±46.07 minutes; A2, 13.94%±3.82% and 201.00±39.70 minutes; and B2, 9.61%±3.27% and 188.84±38.63 minutes, respectively. Only RBL showed a statistically significant difference between the two groups (A2 and B2, P=0.04). Conclusions Unlike maxillary setback, posterior impaction of the maxilla showed a significant association with RBL during surgery. When performing posterior impaction of the maxilla, clinicians need to pay particular attention to surgery and postoperative care.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제46권1호
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• pp.27-32
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• 2013

Background: Minimal infusion of cardioplegic solution (CPS) during aortic surgery using total circulatory arrest (TCA) may reduce several potential side effects: clamping on a diseased aorta, insult of coronary ostia, and edema. Materials and Methods: From 2006 to 2009, 72 patients underwent aortic surgery without infusion of cardioplegic solution at the initiation of circulatory arrest. The diagnoses were acute aortic dissection (44), aneurysm (22), and intramural hematoma (6). Results: The duration of TCA, the lowest nasopharyngeal temperature, bypass time, and aortic clamp time was 45 minutes, $16.4^{\circ}C$, 162 minutes, and 100 minutes, respectively. The amount of CPS was 1,050 mL, and 15 patients underwent surgery without CPS. The average inotrope score was 113 points (range, 6.25 to 5,048.5 points) corresponding to the dopamine infusion of 5 mcg/kg/min for 1 day. Seven patients showed a level of creatine kinase-MB above 50 ng/mL, postoperatively, compared with the average of 12.75 ng/mL. The ischemic change was found on electrocardiogram in 5 patients, postoperatively. There was no cardiac morbidity requiring mechanical assist. The average of intensive care unit stay and postoperative hospital stay was 40 hours (range, 15 to 482 hours) and 11 days, respectively. Conclusion: Minimal infusion of only retrograde CPS during rewarming without initial infusion at TCA in aortic surgery is feasible and can be used with acceptable results.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제49권sup1호
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• pp.20-27
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• 2016

Background: This study analyzed the association between the volume of heart surgeries and treatment outcomes for hospitals in the last five years. Methods: Hospitals that perform heart surgeries were chosen throughout Korea as subjects using from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment Service. The treatment outcome of the heart surgeries was defined as the mortality within 30 postoperative days, while the annual volume of the surgeries was categorized. Logistic regression was used as the statistical analysis method, and the impacts of the variables on the heart surgery treatment outcomes were then analyzed. Results: The chance of death of patients who received surgery in a hospital that performed 50 or more surgeries annually was noticeably lower than patients receiving operations from hospitals that performed fewer than 50 surgeries annually, indicating that the chance of death decreases as the annual volume of heart surgeries in the hospital increases. In particular, the mortality rate in hospitals that performed more than 200 surgeries annually was less than half of that in hospitals that performed 49 or fewer surgeries annually. Conclusion: These results indicate that accumulation of a certain level of heart surgery experience is critical in improving or maintaining the quality of heart surgeries. In order to improve the treatment outcomes of small hospitals, a support policy must be implemented that allows for cooperation with experienced professionals.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제31권3호
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• pp.155-173
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• 2018

Chronic postsurgical pain (CPSP) is an unwanted adverse event in any operation. It leads to functional limitations and psychological trauma for patients, and leaves the operative team with feelings of failure and humiliation. Therefore, it is crucial that preventive strategies for CPSP are considered in high-risk operations. Various techniques have been implemented to reduce the risk with variable success. Identifying the risk factors for each patient and applying a timely preventive strategy may help patients avoid the distress of chronic pain. The preventive strategies include modification of the surgical technique, good pain control throughout the perioperative period, and preoperative psychological intervention focusing on the psychosocial and cognitive risk factors. Appropriate management of CPSP patients is also necessary to reduce their suffering. CPSP usually has a neuropathic pain component; therefore, the current recommendations are based on data on chronic neuropathic pain. Hence, voltage-dependent calcium channel antagonists, antidepressants, topical lidocaine and topical capsaicin are the main pharmacological treatments. Paracetamol, NSAIDs and weak opioids can be used according to symptom severity, but strong opioids should be used with great caution and are not recommended. Other drugs that may be helpful are ketamine, clonidine, and intravenous lidocaine infusion. For patients with failed pharmacological treatment, consideration should be given to pain interventions; examples include transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation, botulinum toxin injections, pulsed radiofrequency, nerve blocks, nerve ablation, neuromodulation and surgical management. Physical therapy, cognitive behavioral therapy and lifestyle modifications are also useful for relieving the pain and distress experienced by CPSP patients.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제31권4호
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• pp.277-288
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• 2018

Background: Neck and back pain are leading sources of disability placing substantial burden on health care systems. Surgical interventions in managing chronic neck pain secondary to various disorders continue to increase. Even though surgical interventions are effective, a significant proportion of patients continue to have symptomatology and develop cervical post-surgery syndrome. This study was performed to know the effectiveness of cervical interlaminar epidural injections with or without steroids. Methods: The effectiveness of fluoroscopic cervical interlaminar epidural injections in post-surgery syndrome was evaluated in a randomized, active controlled trial. The study population included 116 patients assigned to 2 groups. Group 1 received cervical interlaminar epidural injections with local anesthetic alone and Group 2 received injection with local anesthetic and steroids. The main outcomes were defined as significant improvement (greater than 50%) of pain relief using the numeric rating scale and/or functional status improvement using the Neck Disability Index (NDI). Results: Both groups had similar results with significant improvement (${\geq}50%$ pain relief and functional status improvement) in 69% of the patients in Group I, whereas, in Group II, 71% of the patients showed significant improvement at the end of 2 years. During a 2-year period, the average number of procedures was 5 to 6, with an average of approximately 12 weeks of significant improvement per procedure. Conclusions: Fluoroscopic cervical interlaminar epidural injections administered in cervical post-surgery syndrome using local anesthetic, regardless of the use of steroids, may be effective in approximately 70% of the patients at 2-year follow-up.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제41권4호
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• pp.241-245
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• 2007

Objective : So called "minimally invasive procedures" have evolved from chemonucleolysis, automated percutaneous discectomy, arthroscopic microdiscectomy that are mainly working within the confines of intradiscal space to transforaminal endoscopic technique to remove herniated epidural disc materials directly. The purpose of this study is to assess the result of endoscopic spinal surgery and favorable indication in the thoracolumbar spine. Methods : The records of 71 patients, 73 endoscopic procedures, were retrospectively analysed. Yeung Endoscopic Spine Surgery system with 7 mm working sleeve and $25^{\circ}$ viewing angle was used. The mean follow up period was 6 months [range, 3-9]. Results : Operated levels were from T12-L1 disc down to L5-L6 of S1 disc. Of 71 cases, 2 patients underwent transforaminal endoscopic surgery twice due to recurrence after initial operation. MacNab's criteria was used to assess the outcome. Favorable outcome, excellent of good, was seen in 78% [57 procedures] of the patients. Among 11 fair outcomes, only 1 procedure was followed by secondary open procedure, laminectomy with discectomy. Two of 5 poor outcomes were operated again by same procedure which resulted in fair outcomes. One patient with aggravated cauda equina syndrome remained poor and a lumbar fusion procedure was performed in other patient with poor outcome. There were 2 postoperative discitis that were treated with conservative care in one and anterior lumbar interbody fusion in the other. Conclusion : Evolving technology of mechanical, visual instrument enables minimal invasive procedure possible and effective. The transforaminal endoscopic spinal surgery can reach as high as T12-L1 disc level. The rate of favorable outcome is mid-range among reported endoscopic lumbar surgery series. Authors believe that the outcome will be better as cases accumulate and will be able to reach the fate of standard open microsurgery.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제52권2호
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• pp.85-91
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• 2012

Objective : Hemifacial spasm (HFS) caused by vertebrobasilar dolichoectasia (VBD) is very rare, and in theses cases, it is difficult to decompress the nerve from its vascular compression. The objective of this study was to investigate the outcome of microvascular decompression (MVD) for HFS caused by VBD. Methods : There were 10 patients of HFS caused by VBD at our hospital between September 1978 and September 2008. We evaluated magnetic resonance angiography (MRA) and time of flight magnetic resonance imaginge (TOF MRI) findings using the criteria for VBD. We compared the clinical outcomes of MVD for the 10 patients with VBD with the overall outcomes of the total 2058 MVDs performed for HFS. Results : The results of MVD for HFS caused by VBD were successful in 90.9% of cases. The postoperative complication rate in VBD was 45.5%. Offending vessels in patients with VBD were identified visually during surgery. Adverse effects after MVD were found in 4 patients. We found that the diameter of VBD was significantly greater in patients with complications than in those with no complications (p=0.028). Conclusion : Our data shows that MVD may be a good treatment modality for HFS caused by VBD but care must be taken to avoid adverse effects from the procedure. It is important to detach the dolichoectatic artery from its surrounding structures sufficiently to allow it to be easily movable. In addition, attempts should be made to lessen the retraction of the cerebellum during release of the dolichoectatic artery.

• 대한기관식도과학회지
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• 제12권2호
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• pp.26-30
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• 2006

Backgroud and Objectives: Inhalation of foreign bodies in respiratory tract can be fatal to infants and child. After ventilating bronchoscopy technique was widelyused, most of the pediatric airway foreign bodies could be managed effectively. In this study, we aimed to analyze clinicalfeatures and outcomes of ventilating bronchoscopic removal of pediatric airway foreign bodies. Materials and Methods: One hundred twenty cases of ventilating bronchoscopy for pediatric airway foreign bodies at Seoul National University Hospital for the past 15 years were analyzed retrospectively. Results: In 120 cases, sex ratio (male: female) was 2.2:1 and mean age was 27.0 months. Most frequent type of airway foreign was peanut (60.2%). One hundred thirteen patients, in whom a foreign body was confirmed in the airway, were successfully managed by ventilating bronchoscopy. Delayed diagnosis and management made a significantly long postoperative hospital stay. Conclusion: Great care must be given when feeding young children, especially younger than 36 months, with nuts. Early intervention with ventilating bronchoscopy following a clinical suspicion is critical to successful treatment.

• 한국임상수의학회지
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• 제16권2호
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• pp.339-351
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• 1999

Excess secretion of goblet cell stimulated by inhalation anesthetics have side effects during operation or postoperative care. Mucosubstances, which are almost secreted by goblet cells in the epithelium of the respiratory tract, are secreted by a direct irritation of inhalation anesthetics. This study was carried out to compare the differences of mucus secretion on lower respiratory tract stimulated by ethyl ether, halothane and isoflurane. Total of 24 rabbits were used as experimental animals. The trachea and the 1st bronchi were fixed in 10% neutral buffered formalin. After embedding in paraffin, the specimens were sectioned to a thickness of 6 ${\mu}{\textrm}{m}$, and PAS-H, Alcian blue pH 2.5 and Alcian blue pH 1.0 stains were performed for the observation of the composition and the quantity of the mucus. The results were as follows; Ethyl ether and isoflurane irritated the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract. Ethyl ether irritated more than isoflurane. Halothane irritated the mucous membrane, but its effect was minimal and had little influences during operation. In the specimens stained with PAS-H, Alcian blue pH 2.5 and Alcian blue pH 1.0, the mucosubstance lining the cilia and in the goblet cells of the trachea and 1st bronchi were the strongly PAS-H reactive mucosubstances, moderately Alcian blue pH 2.5 and Alcian blue pH 1.0. The PAS-H reactive mucosubstance were polysaccharides, neutral mucopolysaccharides, mucoproteins, glycoproteins and glycolipids. Trachea was easily affected than bronchi by inhalation anesthetics. Consequently, it is suggested that because halothane does not irritates respiratory mucosal secretion, its application may be efficient to the depressed respiratory system.