• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.144-147
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• 1999

A 72-year-old female patient was presented complaining of unbearable abdominal pain in the upper left quadrant at our hospital. Two weeks earlier she had developed a vesicular eruption on the right C3 dermatome and 1 week earlier she had experienced a vesicular eruption on the left T11 dermatome. Her medical history was unremarkable. She had suffered from severe abdominal pain in the upper left quadrant for 10 days and the mild pain in the right shoulder region for 20 days. The pain in the upper left quadrant had increased and was unresponsive to drugs prescribed by the local clinic. And we performed T11 root block with 0.5% lidocaine 5 ml and dexametasone 5 mg, and thoracic epidural blockade on 1st hospital day under diagnosis of herpes zoster infection. Her VAS were improved from 10 to 2 on 2nd hospital day. We performed thoracic epidural blockade with 0.5% lidocaine 6 ml. Her VAS were changed from 2 to 7 and so then we performed the thoracic epidural blockade with 0.5% lidocaine 5 ml and triamcinolone 40 mg on 3rd hospital day. On 4th hospital day, her VAS were from 7 to 1. After 4 month of our managements she was tolerable without any medications.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.131-135
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• 2000

Spontaneous spinal epidural hematoma, an idiopathic accumulation of blood in the vertebral epidural space without identifiable predisposing factors, is a rare condition. The diagnosis can be made from a careful history and neurological examination, but clinical diagnosis is often difficult because of its non-specific symptomatology and it can be confused with myocardial infarct, musculoskeletal pain, vasculitis and acute dissection of an aortic aneurysm. For a favourable outcome, early decompressive laminectomy and evacuation of hematoma are necessary. We report a 50-year-old female who presented with acute paraparesis and back pain on thoracic area. Diagnosis of spinal epidural hematoma which extended over $T_4-T_9$ was made by magnetic resonance imaging. We performed immediately decompressive laminectomy and evacuated the epidural hematoma. No cause for bleeding was evident. Postoperatively, neurological symptoms disappeared within six weeks.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1533-1537
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• 2000

Granulocytic sarcomas are solid tumors resulting from the localized proliferation of myelogenous leukions cells. Epidural involvement of granulocytic sarcoma is very rare in acute myelogenous leukemia(AML). We report a patient with a thoracic epidural granulocytic sarcoma whose presentation with acute paraparesis led to the diagnosis of relapsing of alleged AML. Early recognition of the etiology of the paraparesis and treatment with emergency decompressive, laminectomy, radiation therapy and chemotherapy resulted in an excellent neurological and hematological outcome.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.37-43
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• 1992

Postoperative hypoxemia in the absence of hypoventilation occurs more often after thoracic or upper abdominal surgery than lower abdominal operations or surgery on extremities. Although the factors which produce postoperative alveolar collapse have not been fully evaluated, the dominant factor of postoperative hypoxemia is shunt of blood passing collapsed alveoli and the postoperative pain is associated with restriction of depth of breathing, sighing and movement. In 1979, the first successful clinical usage of epidurally administered morphine for control of postoperative pain was reported by Behar and associates. This study was carried out for twenty patients who received posterolateral thoracostomy with bleb resection between May 1990 and May 1991 and who were primary spontaneous recurrent pneumothoraxes under general endotracheal anesthesia. For the relief of post-thoracotomy pain following of the general anesthesia, we selected ten patients as control group which were treated intermittently IM with injection of pethidine(50 mg) according to the conventional method and another ten patients as study group which were managed with thoracic epidural analgesia. The tip of the catheter was inserted to T4-5 epidural space through T12-L1 or L1-2 interspinous region before the induction of the general anesthesia and then the epidural analgesics(0.25% bupivacaine 15 ml+morphine 3 mg) was injected once a day via the catheter until 4 th POD in the study group. The epidural catheters were removed at postoperative 4 th day in study group. Clinical observations were done about vital signs, ABG, tidal volume, FVC and occurence of adverse effects during postoperative 2hr, 8hr, 1st day, 2nd day, 7th day in both groups. The results were as follows; (1) The values of $V_T$ and FVC were significantly improved in study group(85% and 66%) as compared with control group(76% and 61%) during the postoperative 4 day of the epidural analgesia. (2) After the end of the epidural analgesia(7th POD), the values of FVC were improved invertly rather in control group(98%) than study group(84%). It suggested that the reduction of FVC in study group were caused by the raised pain sensitivity following the end of epidural analgesia. (3) The side effects of epidural analgesia such as transient urinary retention(2 cases), itching sensation(1) and headache(1) were noted.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.434-438
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• 1996

Epidural abscess is associated with placement of epidural catheter is very rare. We experienced two cases of epidural abscess formation after placement of epidural catheter for pain management. A 63 years old female patient received thoracic epidural catheterization for management of pain due to herpes zoster on right T4 dermatome. Two weeks after catheterization, she complained of paraparesis and anesthesia below $T_4$ dermatome. Four weeks later magnetic resonance images was performed and revealed epidural abscess on $T_2-T_5$. Emergent decompressive laminectomy was performed but neurologic symptoms were not improved. In other case, a 75 years old male patient received lumbar epidural catheterization for management of Buerger's disease. About on month later, pus was aspirated from lumbar epidural space. But further evaluation could not be achieved because he wanted to discharge against advice. We emphasize that epidural abscess results sequele serious and prompt diagnosis and treatment is important.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.231-234
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• 1997

Background: The aim of this study was to examine the precise spreading pattern of contrast media in small increments in rabbits. Following pentobarbital anesthesia, the epidural puncture was done surgically with a blunt hook. Methods: The tip of epidural catheter was located at the mid-portion of T7 and T12, in the T7 group (n=7) and T12 group (n=8), respectively. Injection of the contrast media was started at 0.1 mL/kg and increased by 0.1 mL/kg up to a maximum of 0.6, mL/kg, under fluoroscopy. Results: In both groups, the extent of spread increased continuously as a Starling resistor with increasing injected volume(T7 group: $y=4.0+41.8x-28.1x^2$, T12 group: $y=0.2+57.7x-43.5x^2$) the total spread of contrast media was similar. The contrast media spread equally, both rostral and caudal, from catheter tip in T7 group; media spread approximately twice as far rostral as compared to caudal in T12 group (P<0.05). Conclusions: In rabbits, the position of epidural catheter tip should be positioned 2~3 segments below the aimed segment in lower thoracic or lumbar region, whereas in mid-thoracic region it should be positioned close to the level of aimed segment. Rabbits have relatively small epidural space therefore, the volume of injectant should be carefully determined with the suggested equations of this study.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.303-307
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• 1993

Postoperative pain relief and the side effects of epidurally injected morphine were investigated in 10 patients who received thoracotomy. Epidural morphine injection was given via an epidural catheter after thoracotomy. The pain score[VAS] and repiratory rate were decreased and the SaO2, tidal volume and vital capacity were increased significantly after epidural morphine injection. The analgesia of epidural morphine lasted for 13 hours with average. The side effects of epidural morphine were few and mild, but urinary retention was in 10%[1/10] of total patients.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.439-442
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• 1996

Continuous epidural analgesia has been used widely for chronic pain control, especially in cancer patients. As one of the complications, paraplegia developed during continuous epidural analgesia may be caused by epidural abscess, epidural hematoma, neural damage, chronic adhesive arachnoiditis, anterior spinal artery syndrome, delayed migration of extradural catheter into subdural space or subarachnoid space and preexisting disease. A 55-years-old male with lung cancer was implanted with continuous thoracic epidural catheter for pain control. Twenty days after catheterization, moderate back pain, weakness of lower extremity and urinary difficulty were developed. We suspected epidural abscess at first and made differential diagnosis with MRI which showed metastatic cancer at T2-4 spine, And compressed spinal cord was the main cause of the lower extremity paralysis.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.308-311
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• 1995

The incidence of contamination of epidural catheters used for pain control was investigated. To prevent epidural infection, all patients with epidural catheters had taken amoxacillin 1.5gm/day orally. Of the cultures of catheters catched from 303 patients undergoing continuous epidrual catheterization, 5 catheters (1.7%) were found to be contaminated; cervical 1/86 (1.2%), thoracic 1/27 (3.7%), and lumbar 3/190 (1.6%). Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common etiologic agent (60%). To prevent epidural infection, sterilization of the skin around the epidural catheter and prophylactic use of broad-spectrum antibiotics are thought to be beneficial.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.76-79
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• 2013

During the early stage of postherpetic neuralgia, an epidural block on the affected segment is helpful in controlling pain and preventing progression to a chronic state. The main neurologic complication following an epidural block is cord compression symptom due to an epidural hematoma. When neurologic complications arise from an epidural block for the treatment of postherpetic neuralgia, it is important to determine whether the complications are due to the procedure or due to the herpes zoster itself. We report a case of a patient who was diagnosed with herpes zoster myelitis during treatment for postherpetic neuralgia. The patient complained of motor weakness in the lower extremities after receiving a thoracic epidural block six times. Although initially, we believed that the complications were due to the epidural block, it was ultimately determined to be from the herpes zoster myelitis.