• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.237-241
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• 2000

Vertebral compression fractures commonly afflict the elderly. Some patients suffer from severe mechanical pain in spite of treatments with strong analgesics and bracing. Vertebroplasty, which was originally used for vertebral hemangioma, is effective for patients who do not respond to these more conservative treatments. However, the procedure has some risk. Leaks of bone cement into perineural tissues can be a serious complication. In contrast to the lumbar vertebrae, the outer margin of the pedicle of the thoracic vertebrae is almost in line with the outer margin of the body. This, combined with the thinner pedicle of the thoracic vertebrae, makes proper needle placement difficult. The posterolateral approach is preferred to the transpedicular approach in order to avoid the danger of destroying the inner cortex of the pedicle. But there can be a problems with the standard posterolateral approach. The rib can be broken, the pleura can be punctured. A new and safer approach is possible. Before penetrating the bone, the needle is positioned at the upper margin of the transverse process, 5 mm away from the pedicle. To achieve this positioning, the needle must puncture the skin 1~1.5 cm laterally and 3~5 mm cranially to the target point on the bone. This approach was used for 10 patients and we achieved good results with no serious complication.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.10
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• pp.833-837
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• 1994

Lung contusion due to blunt chest trauma is the most common lung injury and correlated with the clinical course and prognosis. Its diagnosis by CT[Computerized Tomogram] gives a more clear and understandable three dimensional view, by which we are able to measure the volume of the contused and entire lung. Other variables are arterial blood gas, number of rib fracture, presence of hemopneumothorax, sternal fracture and clavicle fracture, number of associated non-thoracic injuries, ventilator time and presence of pulmonary complication. Percentage[%] of lung contusion are expressed as mean $\pm$ standard deviation and data analysis was performed by means of multivariate repeated measures analysis of variance to detect significant differences in variables between positive thoracic injury group and negative group. The paired t-test was used. Differences of percentage of lung contusion between groups were assessed by one-way analysis of variance. Simple linear regression was used to perform correlation analysis in the number of rib fracture and ventilator time. A p value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Pneumothorax and the number of associated other injuries affect the amount of lung contusion and pulmonary complication group has more contused lung volume. Arterial blood gas study shows no correlation with the amount of lung contusion statistically. The number of rib fracture correlated with the amount of lung contusion, which also correlated with ventilator time[r=0.56, p<0.05]. In conclusion, quantitative anlysis of lung contusion by CT predicts the clinical course and treatment such as ventilator care.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.6 no.2
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• pp.219-224
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• 1973

82 cases of esophageal stenosis due to lye solution in our hospital, which is surgicallly treated with retrosternal esophagoplasty were reported. female was 2 times more then male and average age is 30 years old. Dyphagia and precordial pain were chief complaint. In this technique, jejunum, right and left colon were substituted for constricted esophagus. Postoperative complication rate 14.6%, mortality rate due to other complication were 21.9% but had not seen in this operative technique.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.386-389
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• 1990

Spontaneous Pneumothorax as a complication of lung cancer is rare, as seen from the literature, comprising only 1.13 per cent of all pneumothoraces. All histologic types of lung cancer have been reported principally squamous cell carcinoma probably because of its relatively higher incidence. Beside the fact that it occurs in the same high risk population [Smokers, chronic bronchitis and those with emphysema], pneumothorax may reveal a cancer. Recently, we observed three cases of lung cancer with spontaneous pneumothorax, the one was squamous cell carcinoma and the others were adenocarcinoma. Three cases of spontaneous pneumothoraces occurred as a complication of neoplastic disease.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.510-512
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• 1995

Reexpansion pulmonary edema following treatment of pneumothorax and pleural effusion is a rare complication. However, because of possibility of its fatal outcome, physicians must be aware of this complication and every effort must be made to prevent its occurrence. We experienced 5 cases of reexpansion of pulmonary edema. One was complete tension pneumothorax and became death despite of intensive management. Remained four were 3 pneumothoraces and 1 pleural effusion and discharged without event, fortunately.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.5
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• pp.504-506
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• 1995

Postpneumonectomy empyema is an infrequent but dreaded complication. The seriousness of this complication is impossible to eliminate the space containing the infection, and consequently, it is difficult to sterilize the space. The time from pneumonectomy to the development of an empyema ranges from several days to several years, with most evident with 4 weeks. We experienced a case of postpneumonectomy empyema that occurred 27 1/2 years after initial pneumonectomy. She was treated with intrapleural antiseptic irrigation and open-tube drainage following partial decortication. The patient had an uneventful recovery and was discharged from hospital with improved condition.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1047-1051
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• 1994

Airway obstruction may be caused by extreme mediastinal shift and rotation after right pneumonecotmy or after left pneumonecotomy in the presence of right aortic arch.We experienced such a complication after right pneumonectomy, so called right postpneumonectomy syndrome. The patient was 28 years old female, and 4 month ago she had undergone right pneumonecotomy via video assisted thoracoscopic surgery[VATS] for endobronchial tuberculus dissemination and secondary pulmonary infection. She was treated by mediastinal repositioning which were composed of substernal fixation of pericardium and insertion of expandable prosthesis of 1000 cc capacity. She had good postoperative course and now she feels no obstructive symptoms.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.717-720
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• 1995

The bronchopleural fistula is the most common and serious complication of postpneumonectomy empyema. We experienced one case of postpneumonectomy empyema with bronchopleural fistula which treated with Abruzzini operation using residual long bronchial stump. Median sternotomy was used with extension about 3cm incision toward cephalic side. We ligated and divided the innominate vein. We did not open the pericardium with extrapericardial approach. Stapler was used to distal bronchial side and additional interupt sutures were used on proximal side.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.186-189
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• 2000

In an attermpt to aviod the deleterious effects of cardiopulmonary by pass such as pulmonary complication neurologic complication and renal failure off-pump CABG has been rediscovered and developed. We experienced off-pump CABG in 2 cases with unstable angina complicated with COPD and report herein the cases with review of literature.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.409-412
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• 2014

Percutaneous extracorporeal life support (P-ECLS) is a useful modality for the management of refractory cardiac or pulmonary failure. However, venoarterial P-ECLS may result in a complication of left ventricular distension. In this case report, we discuss a patient with drug-induced dilated cardiomyopathy managed with venoarterial P-ECLS and a left atrial vent catheter. The venoarterial P-ECLS was modified to a paracorporeal left ventricular assist device (LVAD) by removing the femoral venous cannula. After 28 days of hospitalization, the patient was successfully weaned from the paracorporeal LVAD and discharged home from the hospital.