• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.104-109
• /
• 2001

We describe the accidental injection of local anesthetics containing steroid into the subdural space during an attempted lumbar epidural injection for intractable radiculopathy in a patient with failed back surgery syndrome. A 24-year-old man complained of severe radiating pain to left lower extremity and showed a walking disturbance and severe lumbar scoliosis. The MRI finding was a left paramedian recurred disc herniation on L4-5 in a laminectomy state. Several therapeutic modalities such as epidural steroid injection, transforaminal injection, L2 root block, medication, and exercise therapy, etc failed. Initially, during epidural block at L4-5 under fluoroscopic guidance, a railroad track appearance appeared on epidurogram suggesting the presence of a subdural space. A second epidural block was tried at L5-S1. Following confirmation of epidural space upon epidurogram, 6 ml of 0.5% lidocaine including triamcinolone 40 mg was injected. The patient showed signs of the subdural injection including an unexpectedly high sensory block (T2) and a motor weakness of both lower extremities. Following this event, the severe radiculopathy and lumbar scoliosis were improved. Therefore, we conclude that subdural injection of steroid could be helpful in intractable radiculopathy, especially in the failed back surgery syndrome. However, it must be used cautiously with careful patient selection.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.23 no.3
• /
• pp.190-197
• /
• 2010

Background: Conventional spinal saddle block is performed with the patient in a sitting position, keeping the patient sitting for between 3 to 10 min after injection of a drug. This amount of time, however, is long enough to cause prolonged postoperative urinary retention. The trend in this block is to lower the dose of local anesthetics, providing a selective segmental block; however, an optimal dose and method are needed for adequate anesthesia in variable situations. Therefore, in this study, we evaluated the question of whether only 1 min of sitting after drug injection would be sufficient and safe for minor anorectal surgery. Methods: Two hundred and sixteen patients undergoing minor anorectal surgery under spinal anesthesia remained sitting for 1 min after completion of subarachnoid administration of 1 ml of a 0.5% hyperbaric bupivacaine solution (5 mg). They were then placed in the jack-knife position. After surgery, analgesia levels were assessed using loss of cold sensation in the supine position. The next day, urination and 11-point numeric rating scale (NRS) for postoperative pain were assessed. Results: None of the patients required additional analgesics during surgical manipulation. Postoperative sensory levels were T10 [T8-T12] in patients, and no significant differences were observed between sex (P = 0.857), height (P = 0.065), obesity (P = 0.873), or age (P = 0.138). Urinary retention developed in only 7 patients (3.2%). In this group, NRS was $5.0{\pm}2.4$ (P = 0.014). Conclusions: The one-minute sitting position for spinal saddle block before the jack-knife position is a safe method for use with minor anorectal surgery and can reduce development of postoperative urinary retention.

• Journal of Korean Ophthalmic Optics Society
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.81-86
• /
• 2009

Purpose: We developed the MYSTERY CIRCLE vision training program which was suitable for Korean people. We compared it with the established programs, Block string and Anaglyphs in aspect of functional, sensory, and symptomatical changes of binocular vision. Mehtods: The vision training observation group included 75 clients (male=40, female=35) who had binocular vision disorders without opthalmic diseases or vertical phoria. Results: According to the results, all training methods showed improvement of binocular vision function, sensation and symptoms. But the Block String had low participation, reference rate of subjects and success rate and showed the different degree of improvement depending on individuals. Anaglyphs method showed high participation and improvement. But it had a low degree of success rate and preference rate. Conclusions: MYSTERY CIRCLE method showed the highest participation, reference rate of subjects, success rate, and high degree of improvement. Therefore we suggest that MYSTERY CIRCLE is an effective and alternative method for binocular vision disorder therapy.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.18 no.1
• /
• pp.39-42
• /
• 2005

Background: Besides its general anesthetic effect, ketamine interacts with sodium channels in a local anesthetic-like fashion, including the sharing of binding sites with those commonly used by clinical local anesthetics. This study evaluated the dose related effects of ketamine during epidural anesthesia with 0.5% ropivacaine. Methods: Sixty ASA physical status I II patients, scheduled for minor elective surgery under epidural anesthesia using 0.5% ropivacaine, were randomly divided into three groups (n = 20 each). The patients initially received either 0.5% ropivacaine (group 1), ketamine (0.1 mg/kg) in addition to the epidural 0.5% ropivacaine (group 2) or ketamine (0.2 mg/kg) in addition to the epidural 0.5% ropivacaine (group 3). The regression of sensory block was assessed by transcutaneous electric stimulation (TES), equivalent to a surgical incision. Motor block was assessed using the Modified Bromage's scale. Episodes of bradycardia, hypotension and sedation were also recorded. Results: There were no significant differences among the three groups in the maximal levels of sensory block or the times taken for these levels to be reached. The mean times for the block to regress to two and four segments below the maximal level were significantly prolonged by epidural ketamine. Conclusions: Epidural ketamine prolongs the duration of ropivacaine epidural anesthesia. These results suggest that ketamine has local anesthetic-like actions.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.13 no.1
• /
• pp.84-88
• /
• 2000

Background: An increase in the maximum level of sensory blockade (MLSB) following an epidural top-up in combined spinal epidural anesthesia (CSE) may be achieved by a volume effect as the volume of local anesthetic compresses the dural sac, by a local anesthetic effect, or by a combination of both effects. This study was conducted to investigate the contribution of each of these effects. Methods: Sixty patients scheduled for lower limb surgery under CSE were randomly allocated to one of three groups of twenty patients each. Using the needle-through needle technique, all patients received a subarachnoid dose of 10 mg hyperbaric 0.5% bupivacaine. At 30 min after subarachnoid injection, an epidural top-up with saline 10 ml (group II) or 0.5% bupivacaine 10 ml (group III) was administered; patients in group I received no epidural top-up. The level of sensory blockade was assessed at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 min after subarachnoid injection and at 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30 min after epidural top-up. Results: There was no significant difference in the MLSB and the onset time of MLSB among group I-III. Conclusions: We concluded that the epidural top-up with saline 10 ml or 0.5% bupivacaine 10 ml which injected at 30 min after subarachnoid injection did not significantly increase the level of subarachnoid block in lower extremity surgical patients.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
• /
• v.30 no.6
• /
• pp.488-496
• /
• 2004

Oral & Maxillofacial surgery can lead to complications that result in abnormal sensation or movement. Inferior alveolar nerve(IAN) injury can result in dysesthesia, paresthsia of the lower lip and chin, so patients presenting with IAN damage suffer from sensory loss. But diagnosis of the nerve injury is largely limited to the subjective statements made by the patient. Distribution of sympathetic nerves parallels the distribution of the somatosensory nerves. Loss of sensory tone causes a concomitant loss of sympathetic activity, resulting in vasodilation of the cutaneous blood vessels that demonstrates greater heat loss. Digital infrared thermographic imaging(DITI) detects infra-red radiation given off by body. DITI can detect minute difference in temperature from different parts of the body and translates the amount of heat into quantitative data. The area of different temperature correlated with pain or disease can be visualized by corresponding color. The objective of this study was to determine the efficacy of DITI in objectively assessing IAN injury. The 19 normal subjects and the 14 patients underwent DITI scan. The normal subjects received unilateral IAN block anesthesia with 2 ml of 2% lidocaine (IAN bolck group) to evaluate temporary alteration in nerve function. Patient group were patients with unilateral IAN damage (dysesthesia or paresthesia) after surgical treatment(Mn. 3rd molar Extraction, etc.). The surgical procedure performed within 6 months of test. The results were as follows. 1. No significant differences in temperature were found between left and right sides of the lower lip and chin in the control group. 2. Significant temperature differences were found between the anesthetized and non-anesthetized sides of the lower lip and chin in the IAN block group. 3. Significant temperature differences were found between the involved and uninvolved sides of the lower lip and chin areas of the experimental group. The results of the study show that DITI can be an useful and effective means of objectively assessing and visualizing IAN damage.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.29 no.1
• /
• pp.29-33
• /
• 2016

Background: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of dexamethasone or dexmedetomidine added to ropivacaine on the onset and duration of ultrasound-guided axillary brachial plexus blocks (BPB). Methods: Fifty-one ASA physical status I-II patients with elective forearm and hand surgery under axillary brachial plexus blocks were randomly allocated to receive 20 ml of 0.5% ropivacaine with 2 ml of isotonic saline (C group, n = 17), 20 ml of 0.5% ropivacaine with 2 ml (10 mg) of dexamethasone (D group, n = 17) or 20 ml of 0.5% ropivacaine with 2 ml ($100{\mu}g$) of dexmedetomidine (DM group, n = 17). A nerve stimulation technique with ultrasound was used in all patients. The onset time and duration of sensory blocks were assessed. Results: The duration of the sensory block was extended in group D and group DX compared with group C (P < 0.05), but there was no significant difference between group D and group DX. However, there were no significant differences in onset time in all three groups. Conclusions: Dexamethasone 10 mg and dexmedetomidine $100{\mu}g$ were equally effective in extending the duration of ropivacaine in ultrasound-guided axillary BPB with nerve stimulation. However, neither drug has significantly effects the onset time.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.30 no.3
• /
• pp.207-213
• /
• 2017

Background: Surgeon satisfaction and patient analgesia during the procedure of laparoscopic surgery are important issues. The aim of this work was to study if an intrathecal (IT) Bupivacaine combined with Magnesium sulfate may or may not provide good surgeon satisfaction in addition to improvement of intraoperative and postoperative analgesia. Methods: Sixty female patients were enrolled in this prospective, randomized, double-blind controlled clinical trial study. All patients were operated for gynecological laparoscopic surgery under spinal anesthesia. Patients were divided into two groups (Bupivacaine and Magnesium). Group Bupivacaine (30 patients) received intrathecal Bupivacaine 0.5% only (15 mg), while 30 patients in group Magnesium received intrathecal Bupivacaine (15 mg) in addition to intrathecal Magnesium sulfate (50 mg). The sensory block level, the intensity of motor block, the surgeon satisfaction, the intraoperative visual analog scale (VAS) for pain assessment, the postoperative VAS, and side effects were recorded during the intraoperative period and within the first 24 hours after surgery in the post-anesthesia care unit. Results: Surgeon satisfaction, intraoperative shoulder pain, postoperative pain after 2 h, and perioperative analgesic consumption (ketorolac) were significant better in group Magnesium than in group Bupivacaine. (P < 0.05). The onset of motor and sensory blocks was significant longer in group Magnesium than the other one. The incidence of PONV, pruritus and urinary retention was insignificant statistically between both groups. Conclusions: Magnesium sulfate if used intrathecally as an adjuvant to Bupivacaine would provide a better surgeon satisfaction and would improve the analgesic effect of spinal anesthesia used for gynecological laparoscopic surgery.

• The Research Journal of the Costume Culture
• /
• v.8 no.4
• /
• pp.577-586
• /
• 2000

The objectives of this study were to develope slacks basic block to be used for improving the attactive silhouette and bodily fitness in ready-to-wear and educational patterns. The subjects were from 20 to 24 years old and twenty six body measurements were taken on the National Anthropometric Survey of Korea in 1977. The women in 20's think ideal body shapes are high stature, long legs, slander waist, hip, abdomen, thigh, ankle and light weight. And so it needs to be studied to studied to make slacks pattern which show slander girth and long length. The study was carried out by the following procedures. 1. Through the comparative investigation on the conventional slacks patterns of System M. Muller & Sohn, Secolli, 文化's in Japan, and Won-ja Rim's and the clothing experiment, the characteristics of every four patterns were found. 2. According to the center back slant, reflecting the change of waist circumference, thigh circumference, back crotch length, and the new suitable slacks pattern was achieved. 3. The sensory evaluation for appearance and comfort was applied to evaluate the new slacks pattern by comparing with the conventional slacks pattern. From the result of the sensory evaluation, it was found that the new slacks pattern was more suitable for appearance. 4. The new slacks pattern for women in their 20's were developed as follows ; The waist line came down 2 ㎝, the waist circumference was plus 2㎝ than originally, and the back hip circumference was larger 1 ㎝ than the front hip, the slacks length was created stature/8×4.9, the knee length was stature/8×2.7. The center back crotch length was interspaced 1∼1.5㎝ at the center front, and was at right angle the point which was raised 5㎝ at the side front. This size is not the absolute size but it helps to make the surplus on any other ready-made slacks for women.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.32 no.1
• /
• pp.3-11
• /
• 2019

Going back to basics prior to mentioning the use of antipsychotics in patients with pain, the International Association for the Study of Pain (IASP) definition of pain can be summarized as an unpleasant experience, composed of sensory experience caused by actual tissue damage and/or emotional experience caused by potential tissue damage. Less used than antidepressants, antipsychotics have also been used for treating this unpleasant experience as adjuvant analgesics without sufficient evidence from research. Because recently developed atypical antipsychotics reduce the adverse reactions of extrapyramidal symptoms, such as acute dystonia, pseudo-parkinsonism, akathisia, and tardive dyskinesia caused by typical antipsychotics, they are expected to be used more frequently in various painful conditions, while increasing the risk of metabolic syndromes (weight gain, diabetes, and dyslipidemia). Various antipsychotics have different neurotransmitter receptor affinities for dopamine (D), 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT), adrenergic (${\alpha}$), histamine (H), and muscarinic (M) receptors. Atypical antipsychotics antagonize transient, weak $D_2$ receptor bindings with strong binding to the $5-HT_{2A}$ receptor, while typical antipsychotics block long-lasting, tight $D_2$ receptor binding. On the contrary, antidepressants in the field of pain management also block the reuptake of similar receptors, mainly on the 5-HT and, next, on the norepinephrine, but rarely on the D receptors. Antipsychotics have been used for treating positive symptoms, such as delusion, hallucination, disorganized thought and behavior, perception disturbance, and inappropriate emotion, rather than the negative, cognitive, and affective symptoms of psychosis. Therefore, an antipsychotic may be prescribed in pain patients with positive symptoms of psychosis during or after controlling all sensory components.