• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.184-194
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• 2023

Background: Degenerative lumbar spondylolisthesis (DLS) is frequently associated with lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) and conservative treatments such as epidural steroid injection do not have long-term benefits in LSS patients with DLS. This study evaluated the effectiveness of percutaneous epidural neuroplasty using a balloon catheter in patients with LSS and DLS. Methods: Patients' sex, age, body mass index, diabetes, hypertension, stenosis grading, pain duration, location, pain intensity, and medications were retrieved from electronic medical records. At 1, 3, and 6 months following the procedure, data on pain severity, medication usage, and physical functional status were analyzed. A generalized estimating equations model was used at the six-month follow-up. Patients were divided into those with DLS (the spondylolisthesis group) and those without DLS (the no spondylolisthesis group) to evaluate whether the effects of percutaneous epidural neuroplasty using a balloon catheter were different. Results: A total of 826 patients were included (spondylolisthesis: 433 patients, 52.4%; no spondylolisthesis: 393 patients, 47.6%). Age, body mass index, hypertension, pain location, and stenosis grading were statistically different between the two groups. The generalized estimating equations analyses with unadjusted and adjusted estimation revealed a significant improvement in the estimated mean numerical rating scale of pain intensities compared to that at baseline in both groups (P < 0.001). Any adverse events that occurred were minor and temporary. Conclusions: Percutaneous epidural neuroplasty using a balloon catheter may be an alternative treatment option for patients with chronic LSS, regardless of accompanying DLS, who have had failed conservative management.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.324-329
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• 2000

Objective : Psychological factors may have a major influence on the outcome of treatment for back pain. We investigated the relationship between the outcome and some psychological factors, such as self-reported pain intensity, disability, sleep disturbance and fatigue. Method : The study was conducted as a survey using a questionnaire and telephone interviews. The survey included consecutive 294 patients who visited the neurosurgical out-patient department complaining of low back pain and contacted by telephone on average seven months after the first visit. Pain intensity was measured by visual analog scale, and disability was assessed by Waddell's chronic disability index. Results : The outcome of treatment for back pain was recovered in 36.7%, improved in 30.6%, almost same in 28.6%, and aggravated in 4.1%. Overall rate of improvement was 67.3%. The rate of improvement was related to the duration, patterns and intensity of the symptom, and Waddell index. It was not influenced by the doctors, special studies, and methods of treatment. When the duration was more than 6 months, there were the symptoms of both back and legs, and the self-reported Waddell index was 1-3, the rate of improvement was relatively low. Although the intensity of the pain and disability was closely related to the degree of sleep disturbance, fatigue, appetite, or indigestion, the outcome of treatment for back pain was not always bad in patients with high psychological stress. Actually the outcome of the patients who complained severe pain and disability was better than the outcome of the others. Conclusion : The outcome of the back pain can be predicted by the duration, patterns and intensity of the symptom, and Waddell index. The multidisciplinary treatment will be necessary for the patients whose expected outcome is not good to reduce not only the physical symptoms but also the psychological stress.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.9-16
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• 2017

Background: The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between the spine and the flat-foot, the stability and the alignment of the posture of the neck to prevent the alignment of the ankle joint operation and the lower back flexibility of the lumbar region according to the type of treatment using active stretching of the triceps, back pain, and to see how they affect weight bearing differences. Methods: The subjects of this study were 24 chronic low back pain patients. They were randomly divided into experimental group and control group. In the experimental group, ankle joint mobilization and active scraping of triceps were performed three times a week for a total of 6 weeks. The control group was performed in the same way without articulation. The range of flexion and extension motion of the lumbar spine and pain degree and difference of weight-bearing were measured before and after the experiment. Results: The model of ankle joint mobilization and calf muscle elongation of flat foot significantly improved the range of flexion and extension motion of the vertebrae (p<.05) and the VAS and distribution of weight-bearing were decreased in both of two groups (p<.05). In other words, the exercise and mobilization help to recover of the balance of the whole musculoskeletal, the vertebrae. Conclusions: The active exercise of the triceps muscle of the lower leg in this study It affects the flexibility of the lumbar spine, the pain and the difference in the weight support of the lower extremities, when we performed ankle joint mobilization for exercise and cramping, pain and the difference in weight support between the two lower limbs.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.140-144
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• 1996

Electrical stimulation is a common method for successful pain management for both acute and a some cases of chronic pain. The incidence of cervical sprain is very high with automobile accidents. Treatment of cervical sprain is consists of analgesic drugs and physical therapy. Lower back pain is a common problem in pain clinics. back pain management are complex, so we have difficulty to choose best treatment modality. The prevalence of herniated lumbar disc(HLD) is 1~3% of lower back pain. The cases of laminectomy varies between 10~20% and postoperative pain is prolonged for several day. We applied Acupuncture like TENS (ALTENS) on the digit for cervical sprain patients and post laminectomy pain patient for three days. The result was very satisfactory. And we found that total hospital days in ALTEND groups are shorter than control group in both disease entities. In conclusion, acupuncture like TENS on finger control gate is an effective method of the pain management.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.71-72
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• 2017

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• v.30 no.1
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• pp.21-26
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• 2013

Objectives : The purpose is to introduce the recent large-scale clinical researches for safety, efficacy and effectiveness of acupuncture in Germany. Results : In 2000, the German Federal Committee of Physicians and Health insurer proposed that large research initiatives on acupuncture, Acupuncture Model Projects(Modellvorhaben Akupunktur), could be conducted by health insurance companies for several pain that acupuncture is syndromes to justify the insurance-based reimbursement. Accordingly, 4 clinical researches were carried out; the Acupuncture Safety and Health economics studies(ASH), the Acupuncture Randomised Trial(ART), the Acupuncture in Routine Care studies(ARC), and the German Acupuncture trial(GERAC). Meanwhile, ASH is a prospective observational study for safety and costs. ART and GERAC are composed of RCTs for efficacy. ARC includes 6 pragmatic RCTs with additional non-randomized cohort study for effectiveness. We investigated the papers related to them and discussed about the outcomes. The researches showed that acupuncture is effective in practice for several chronic conditions such as migraine, tension-type headache, chronic low back pain, osteoarthritis of knee, dysmenorrhea, and allergic rhinitis. Based in part on them, the German health authorities decided that acupuncture would be included into routine reimbursement by social health insurance funds for chronic low back pain and chronic osteoarthritis of the knee in 2006. Conclusions : The German clinical researches may suggest the clues for establishing the evidence of acupuncture treatment.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.39 no.3
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• pp.170-181
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• 2022

This review evaluated the efficacy of electroacupuncture (EA) for chronic fatigue syndrome. Randomized controlled trials (RCTs) using EA as an intervention for patients with chronic fatigue syndrome were identified in 6 databases (PUBMED, EMBASE, CNKI, J-STAGE, KMBASE, OASIS). Fatigue indicators were used as the primary outcome measures. The quality-of-life index, efficiency rate, and level of pain were used as secondary outcome measures. There were 408 patients from seven RCTs included in this study. Meta-analysis showed that EA was significantly associated with fatigue relief compared with the control group (n = 141 SMD = -1.55, 95% CI; -2.58 - -0.52, p = 0.003, I² = 92%). In addition, EA had a statistically significant improvement in quality of life compared with the control group (n = 176, SMD = -2.29, 95% CI; -3.68 - -0.90, p = 0.001, I² = 96%). One study reported ten cases of bleeding, however, no serious adverse events were reported in any of the included studies. This review determined that EA may have a greater clinical effect than the control group for fatigue relief and improved quality of life. However, there were several risks of bias identified. Not all of the RCTs accurately reported the research method, all studies were conducted in 1 country (China), and the number of studies included were small.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.437-446
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• 2021

Background: Non-invasive painless signaling therapy (NPST) is an electro-cutaneous treatment that converts endogenous pain information into synthetic non-pain information. This study explored whether pain improvement by NPST in failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) patients is related to cerebral modulation. Methods: Electroencephalography (EEG) analysis was performed in 11 patients with FBSS. Subjects received daily NPST for 5 days. Before the first treatment, patients completed the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI) and Beck Depression Inventory and underwent baseline EEG. After the final treatment, they responded again to the BPI, reported the percent pain improvement (PPI), and then underwent post-treatment EEG. If the PPI grade was zero, they were assigned to the ineffective group, while all others were assigned to the effective group. We used standardized low-resolution brain electromagnetic tomography (sLORETA) to explore the EEG current-source distribution (CSD) associated with pain improvement by NPST. Results: The 11 participants had a median age of 67.0 years, and 63.6% were female. The sLORETA images revealed a beta-2 CSD increment in 12 voxels of the right anterior cingulate gyrus (ACG) and the right medial frontal area. The point of maximal CSD changes was in the right ACG. The alpha band CSD increased in 2 voxels of the left transverse gyrus. Conclusions: Pain improvement by NPST in FBSS patients was associated with increased cerebral activity, mainly in the right ACG. The change in afferent information induced by NPST seems to be associated with cerebral pain perception.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.67 no.2
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• pp.202-208
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• 2024

Objective : Failed back surgery syndrome (FBSS) is a common long-term complication following spine surgeries characterized by chronic persistent pain; different strategies of management were employed to deal with it. This clinical trial aims to compare the efficacy of Pregabalin and Gabapentin in the management of this condition. Methods : A double-blind, randomized, comparative study (clinical trial registry NCT05324761 on 11th April 2022) with two parallel arms with Pregabalin and Gabapentin were used in arms one and two, respectively. Visual analog scale was used for basal and endpoint assessment of pain. T-test and analysis of covariance were used to deal with different variables. A pairwise test was used to compare pairs of means. Results : Of 66 patients referred to the trial, 64 were eligible, with 60 patients completing the 30 days trial. Both pregabalin and gabapentin effectively reduce pain, with significant p-values of 0.001 for each group. However, the pregabalin group was superior to gabapentin in pain reduction (p=0.001). Gender was an insignificant factor (p=0.574 and p=0.445 for the pregabalin and gabapentin groups, respectively, with a non-significant reduction (p=0.393) for both groups in total. Location of stenosis before surgery and type of surgery performed show non-significant effect on pain reduction for both groups. Conclusion : Both pregabalin and gabapentin effectively and safely relieve neuropathic pain associated with FBSS; pregabalin was significantly more effective irrespective of the patients' gender.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.18 no.4
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• pp.115-124
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• 2008

The purpose of this study was to know influenced on the change of Oswestry back pain disability index(OBPDI), isometric muscle power(IMP), muscular activation with chronic low back pain(CLBP) patients after Trunk Stabilization Exercise. Intervention was provided 6 weeks(5 days a week). Muscular activation was measured during IMP(Muscles : transversus abdominis : TA, internal obliqus : IO, external obliqus : EO, rectus abdominis : RA and erector spinae: ES). The results were as follows. 1. OBPDI about the MBE and the SE groups had effective decrease pain and disability. 2. IMP of intervention after the MBE and the SE groups had effective improve muscle power. 3. Muscle activation during IMP of intervention after was : TA, IO, RA had increase in the MBE and the SE groups. EO muscle activation during IMP of intervention after had increase only MBE groups. This shows that the MBE and the SE groups had effective increase because it has effective improve muscle power. Therefore, this study shows ￡hat trunk stabilization exercise program influenced on the change of OBPDI, IMP, muscular activation with CLBP patients.