• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.354-362
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• 1996

Background: We started postoperative pain management service using an intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA, PCA), which is known as convenient and effective analgesic method. In this report, we describe the efficacy and safety of PCA and the experience of developing an acute pain service to treat postoperative pain using a PCA. Methods: Practices of an acute pain service were started at a ward for general surgery after preparation of the standardized protocols for PCA. In each patient, PCA was connected following administration of initial loading doses of analgesics at recovery room after operation. All patients were checked by acute pain service team once or twice daily. The scope of acute pain service was gradually spread to other departments such as orthopedic, thoracic, obstetric and gynecologic departments by requests of patients or surgeons. We managed 1,590 patients during first 22 months. among them, nine hundred seventy two cases were prospectively evaluated for their analgesis efficacy and side effects of PCA. Results: The number of patients was increased day by day. the most common type of operation was gastrectomy (21.6%). Commonly used analgesics were nalbuphine (59%) and morphine (37%). The mean duration of PCA attachment was 3.3 days. The degree of analgesia on operation day was good in 44.8% and tolerable in 52.6% of patients. Only 3.9% of patients complained severe pain during their postoperative periods. One elderly patient experienced respiratory depression (0.06%) owing to accidental misuse of PCA by his relatives. Overall patient's satisfaction was over 93%. Conclusion: According to our experiences, we conclude that PCA is an effective, relatively safe and highly satisfactory method for postoperative pain management. Because of these advantages of PCA, the creation of our acute pain service using a PCA was successful and expanded rapidly.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.253-257
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• 1998

Background: The purpose of this study was to examine the extent and evaluation of pain after total abdominal hysterectomy (TAH) and to establish correlation between three types of pain; pain at rest, pain with movement and pain with coughing (maximum pain). Methods: The present study compared quality of pain during pain management in 48 patients undergoing TAH. Patients received i.v. meperidine as loading dose in the recovery room and PCA with nalbuphine 90 mg, ketorolac 180 mg, buprenorphine 0.9 mg, droperidol 5 mg, plasma solution A 28 ml for 3 days. The PCA device used was the Baxter infusor$^{(R)}$ (PCA module PC-19-55, 0.5 ml/hr basal rate, 15 minute lockout interval). Patients were then interviewed on Operative Day (OPD), Postoperative Day 1, 2, and 3 (POD 1, 2 and 3) to assess their pain on a visual analogue scale (VAS) of 0 (none) to 10 (worst imaginable). Results: The mean pain score at rest was 2.0 on OPD and decreased to 0.7 on POD 3. The mean pain score with movement was 3.2 on OPD and decreased to 1.6 on POD 3. The mean pain score with coughing was 4.2 on OPD and decreased to 2.2 on POD 3. Conclusions: Patients' experience of three types of postoperative pain emphasizes the need for more effective pain management.

• YAKHAK HOEJI
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• v.52 no.2
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• pp.137-146
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• 2008

Even though driving under the influence of drug (DUID) is a worldwide problem, we, Korea has no regulation system yet except for alcohol, and there are little cases reported related to DUID. In order to investigate the type of abused drugs for drivers in Korea, we tried to analyze controlled and non-controlled drugs in alcohol-positive blood samples. 275 whole bloods, which were positive for alcohol on the roadside test, were collected from the police for two months ($Nov.{\sim}Dec.$ 2006). The analytical strategy was constituted of three steps: First, alcohol in blood samples were confirmed and quantified by gas chromatography. Second, controlled drugs were screened by $Evidence_{investigator}\;^{TM}$ (Randox, U.K.) as preliminary test. It was based on immunoassay by biochip array analyzer. Nine groups of drug abuse were screened: amphetamines, methamphetamines, cannabis, cocaine, opiates, barbiturates, methadone, benzodiazepines I (oxazepam) & II (lorazepam). Finally, confirmation of these drugs was performed by GC-MS. Blood samples were extracted by solid-phase extraction by $RapidTrace^{TM}$ (Zymark, U.S.A.). After trimethylsilyl (TMS) derivatization, eluates were analyzed to GC-MS. Total 49 drugs were investigated in this study including controlled drugs, antidepressants, 1st generation antihistamines, dextromethorphan, nalbuphine, ketamine, etc. For rapid detection, we developed the automated identification system. It was made up a new software, "DrugMan", modified Chemstation data analysis menu and newly developed macro modules. A series of peak selection, identification and reporting of the results were performed automatically by this system. Concentrations of alcohol in 275 blood samples were ranged from 0.011 to 0.249% (average, 0.119%). Among 149 blood samples, just six samples (4.0%) were showed positive results to the immunoassay: one methamphetamine and five benzodiazepines group I. By GC-MS confirmation, only benzodiazepines were detected and methamphetamine was not detected from immunoassay positive blood sample. Besides these drugs, 5 chlorpheniramines, dextromethorphan, diazepam, doxylamine, ibuprofen, lidocaine and topiramate were also detected in whole bloods by GC-MS. Conclusively, the frequency of drug abuse for Korean drivers was relatively low. There was none case which illegal drug was detected. However these results were limited to alcohol positive blood samples, so it is necessary to analyze more samples including alcohol negative blood.