• The Korean Journal of Pain
• /
• v.33 no.1
• /
• pp.40-47
• /
• 2020

Background: Duloxetine is an antidepressant that is also useful in chronic neuropathic and central origin pain. In this study, the role of duloxetine in decreasing acute postoperative pain after lumbar canal stenosis surgery is explored. Methods: In this single center, triple blinded, and placebo-controlled trial, 96 patients were randomized for statistical analysis. The intervention group received oral duloxetine 30 mg once a day (OD) for 2 days before surgery, 60 mg OD from the day of surgery to the postoperative second day and 30 mg OD for the next 2 days (a total duration of 7 days). A placebo capsule was given in the other group for a similar time and schedule. The same standard perioperative analgesia protocols were followed in both groups. Results: Total morphine consumption up to 24 hours was significantly decreased in the duloxetine group (P < 0.01). The time to the first analgesia requirement was similar in both groups but the time to the second and third dose of rescue analgesia increased significantly in the duloxetine group. The time to ambulation was decreased significantly (P < 0.01) in the duloxetine group as compared to the placebo group. Pain scores remained similar during most of the time interval. No significant difference was observed in the complication rate and patient satisfaction score recorded. Conclusions: Duloxetine reduces postoperative pain after lumbar canal stenosis surgery with no increase in adverse effects.

• Journal of Korean society of Dental Hygiene
• /
• v.13 no.2
• /
• pp.261-269
• /
• 2013

Objectives : This research examined the Patient Hygiene Performance(PHP) index according to smoking and tooth brushing behavior, in order to analyze how they influence the oral hygiene. Methods : This research used PHP index and the structured questionnaire. The subjects were 203 men in their 20's who visited K university's dental hygiene department for oral prophylaxis from March to July of 2012. For data analysis SPSS WIN 12.0 was used. Results : 1. The average PHP index of all experimented subjects was 2.66, a very poor level. The PHP index according to general characteristics, smoking, drinking, and exercise showed statistical significance(p<0.05). 2. PHP index decreased with more frequencies and longer durations of toothbrushing(p<0.05). 3. The PHP index of smokers is higher than that of non-smokers. In the case of non-smokers, the frequency, method, and duration of tooth brushing had a statistical significance(p<0.05). 4. The PHP index of smokers who smoke less than or equal to ten cigarettes is 2.53 and smokers who smoked more than 10 cigarettes is 3.10. 5. The results of multiple regression analysis showed that smoking increased the PHP index, while the increase in tooth brushing frequency and the up and down tooth brushing method decreased the PHP index. All the coefficients were statistically significant (p<0.05). Conclusions : In order to increase Patient Hygiene Performance(PHP) index. there must be a decrease in smoking rate while people increase their tooth brushing frequency and use a proper tooth brushing method.

• Journal of Pharmacopuncture
• /
• v.19 no.3
• /
• pp.259-263
• /
• 2016

Lung cancer has a high mortality rate and is often diagnosed at the metastatic stage. Gefitinib is a targeted molecular therapeutic drug used to treat patients with non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Korean herbal medicines may also have therapeutic efficacy against lung cancer, reduce the side effects associated with chemotherapy, and improve patient quality of life (QOL). This case report describes the effects of a Korean herbal medicine regimen combined with gefitinib in a patient with NSCLC and bone metastasis. The Korean herbal medicine regimen included woohwanggeosa-dan, hwanggibujeong-dan and geonchilgyebok-jeong. The computed tomography (CT) findings showed that following combination treatment, the size of the tumor was markedly decreased without serious adverse events. Moreover, the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status was improved and cancer-related pain was decreased. These results suggest that a combination of Korean herbal medicines and gefitinib may be an effective therapeutic option for patients with advanced NSCLC and bone metastasis. Further studies are needed to examine the mechanism and the clinical efficacy of Korean herbal medicines against NSCLC.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
• /
• v.44 no.2
• /
• pp.277-284
• /
• 2023

Objective: This study investigated the effects of Guibiondam-tang-gamibang on patients in the thyrotoxic phase of painless thyroiditis. Methods: A patient in the thyrotoxic phase of painless thyroiditis was treated with Guibiondam-tang-gamibang combined with Western medicine (i.e., beta blockers). The effect of treatment was evaluated according to the pulse rate, NRS, the frequency of subjective symptoms, and sleep time. In addition, the thyroid function was evaluated with TSH, Free T4, and T3 using blood tests. Results: After treatment, the pulse rate decreased, and the NRS and frequency of subjective symptoms disappeared after improvement. Sleep time increased. In the thyroid function test, a significant normalization of each value was observed. Conclusion: This study suggests that Guibiondam-tang-gamibang can be effectively treated in patients with painless thyroiditis in the thyrotoxic phase. However, further studies should be conducted.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
• /
• v.14 no.1
• /
• pp.34-43
• /
• 2002

More and more non-injured operations are being implemented these days, thanks to the development of medical technology. Still, however, most operations leave direct scars on patient' bodies, as well as accompanying pain. The massage as an independent nursing intervention can stimulate the circulation of the blood of tissue and muscle and increase the relationship between a patient and a nurse. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of foot massage on pain in post abdominal operative patients. The nonequivalent control group, pre-post test design is used for this study. From July 7, 2000 to February 20, 2001, the 40 patients who were operated under general anesthesia in a university hospital in Seoul were studied. They were divided into two groups ; 20 patients were part of the experimental group, and the others, in the control group. In order to evaluate the effect of foot massage, severity of pain was checked with the VAS (Visual Analog Scale) and also each patients' vital signs were measured with pulse rate, systolic blood pressure and diastolic blood pressure. The collected datas were processed by SAS version 6.12 program and analyzed by the Chi-square, Fisher's exact test, t-test and repeated measures ANOVA. The results of this study were as follows. 1. The severity of pain decreased significantly in the experimental group as compared to the control group following foot massage (t=-3.317, p= .002). 2. Measured vital signs in the experimental group had more reduction of that than in the control group following foot massage. - The pulse rate in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group following foot massage (F=7.73, p=.008). - The systolic blood pressure in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group following foot massage (F=25.75, p=.000). - The diastolic blood pressure in the experimental group was lower than that in the control group following foot massage (F=15.27, p=.000). In conclusion, foot massage is an effective dependent nursing intervention for pain control of post abdominal operative patients.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
• /
• v.14 no.11
• /
• pp.838-848
• /
• 2014

The purpose of this study was to identify the effects of bed baths with 2% chlorhexidine on the incidence of Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and blood stream infection (BSI) and to suggest guidelines on the therapeutic bed baths using skin cleaner. This study was designed to compare the incidence of MRSA and BSI of the experimental group(n=188) who received the bed baths with 2% chlorhexidine with the incidence of MRSA and BSI of the control group(n=199) who received the existing bed baths with soap and skin cleaner. A research design used in the study was a randomized control group posttest-only design. The experimental group had 6.7% decrease in MRSA acquisition than the control group (7.4% vs 14.1%, p=.036). The experimental group was decreased in the incidence density of MRSA than the control group (9.32 cases per 1,000 patient-days at risk of experimental group vs 15.44 cases per 1,000 patient-days at risk of control group; p=.099). The experimental group had 4.5% decrease in the rate of BSI than the control group (0.5% vs 5.0%, p=.011). The experimental group was decreased in the incidence density of BSI than the control group (0.67 cases per 1,000 patient-days at risk of experimental group vs 5.52 cases per 1,000 patient-days at risk of control group; p=.052). These finding indicated that bed baths with 2% chlorhexidine is an effective nursing intervention to decrease the incidence of MRSA and BSI.

• Journal of Clinical Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.229-234
• /
• 2018

Background and Objectives : Vocal nodules occur with a 12-22% prevalence in pediatric populations. Most otolaryngologists recommend voice therapy as the primary treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate patient compliance with voice therapy and its effect on vocal nodules in children. Materials and Methods : We retrospectively reviewed 44 pediatric patients between 3 and 11 years old diagnosed with vocal nodules between March 2015 and December 2017. We evaluated the treatment adoption rate, dropout rate during voice therapy, and reasons for dropout. For patients who completed voice therapy, we measured the changes in nodule size, perceptual parameters, and acoustic parameters. We evaluated patient satisfaction using the pediatric voice handicap index (P-VHI). Results : Of the 44 pediatric patients diagnosed with vocal nodules, 22 (50%) agreed to voice therapy. Of the 22 patients who started voice therapy, 5 (22.7%) dropped out during therapy because they were unsatisfied with their treatment. Another 4 patients discontinued therapy for reasons unrelated to treatment effectiveness. Vocal nodule disappeared or decreased in all 13 patients who completed voice therapy. All voice parameters were improved and statistically significant changes were observed in perceptual, acoustic, and P-VHI parameters. Conclusions : Although compliance to voice therapy among the pediatric patients with vocal nodules was low, there were significant improvements in voice parameters for those who completed voice therapy. A change toward a positive perception of voice therapy is necessary and a multidisciplinary approach is needed to improve the effect of voice therapy on pediatric patients with vocal nodules.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• v.30 no.2
• /
• pp.180-185
• /
• 2001

Objectives : We retrospectively studied the efficacy of anterior cervical discectomy and interbody fusion without plate fixation in degenerative cervical disease. Methods : Thirty two consecutive patients with degenerative cervical disease treated by decompression and interbody fusion(Smith-Robinson technique) without anterior cervical plating were studied for postoperative complication rate as well as the clinical and radiologic outcomes and were compared the result of ours with other reported series where the anterior cervical plating was used. Results : All cases were reviewed after average period of 13 months for the purpose of this study. There were 4 postoperative complications related to grafting. A solid fusion was obtained in all cases with single-level fusion(n=21) and 81.8 % of the cases with a two-level fusion(n=11). The overall fusion rate was 93.8 % and fusion rate per level fused was 95.3%. The clinical outcome of the patients was comparable with that in the literature, with one patient having a poor result. Comparing the result of this study with others of the anterior cervical plating, clinical outcome and fusion rate were not superior in plate fixation group in single-level fusion, but increased fusion rate and decreased graft-related complication rate were noted in multilevel fusion with plate fixation. However, the clinical outcome was not superior to noninstrumented fusion group of this study. Conclusion : These results demonstrate that anterior cervical discectomy and interbody fusion(Smith-Robinson technique) without instrumentation is safe and reliable method of single-level fusion in degenerative cervical disease. Plate fixation system doesn't seem necessary in single level fusion in degenerative cervical disease.

• Proceedings of the KIEE Conference
• /
• 2007.04a
• /
• pp.67-69
• /
• 2007

Recently, the prevalence rate of diabetes in Korea has been increasing rapidly due to high growth of economy and changes in dietary lifestyle. Vascular complication is one of diabetic complications which have frequently occurred by obesity, hyperglycemia and impaired glucose metabolism. Photoplethysmogram(PPG) measured from finger and toe is very useful for evaluation of vascular aging and sclerosis level since the PPG signal represents characteristics of peripheral vascular. Several researchers have reported that second derivative of the finger PPG waveform was useful to evaluate vascular compliance and developed various analysis methods for vascular compliance. However, peripheral vascular compliance study for diabetic patient was never evaluated by using second derivative of PPG. Therefore, we aimed to objectively compare and to assess normal and diabetic group vascular compliance using the second derivative of PPG waveform in this study. The evaluated factors of second derivative of PPG are 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e' and b/a represents vascular compliance. Study found out that when vascular compliance is decreased, b/a is increased, the absolute value of b/a is decreased. The average vascular compliance of 50 diabetic patients with neuropathy is statistically lower than the normal group(p<0.05). We suggest an objective evaluation of peripheral vascular compliance for diabetic patients and prevention of vascular complication.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
• /
• v.10 no.1
• /
• pp.115-120
• /
• 2015

PURPOSE: Vertebrobasilar insufficiency (VBI) should be carefully assessed in patient for whom manipulation of the cervical spine is to be undertaken. The purpose of this study was to investigate the changes in posterior cerebral artery blood flow velocity following head and body positioning by transcranial doppler ultrasonography (TCD) in healthy subjects. METHODS: Twenty two healthy female (mean age $20.77{\pm}1.30yrs.$) participants volunteered to participate in the study. None of the participants had a history of neck pain or headache within the last 6 months. To evaluate the cerebral blood flow, we measured the mean flow velocity of the posterior cerebral artery unilaterally (right side). The blood flow velocity was measured under 3 different head positions (in a neutral head position, ipsilateral head rotation and contralateral head rotation position) and 2 different body conditions (supine position and sitting position). RESULTS: The mean blood flow velocity of posterior cerebral artery was decreased in body positioning from supine to sitting (p<.05), but the decreased rate of blood flow velocity in posterior cerebral artery did not change significantly between ipsilateral head rotation and contralateral head rotation (p>.05). CONCLUSION: These result of our study show that body positioning (sitting and supine) affect the blood flow velocity in posterior cerebral artery.