• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.238-240
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• 1994

We performed post-operative hemodynamic evaluation and lung perfusion scan after left lung transplantation in dog. The heart & lungs were extracted from donor dog while the both lungs were flushed with 4oC Euro-Collin`s solution after heparinization & infusion of prostaglandin E1.In the recipient dog, anastomosis of the left atrial cuff was performed by continuous 4-0 Prolene everted suture, and bronchial anastomosis by telescope method with 4-0 Prolene continuous suture. The end-to-end anastomosis of left main pulmonary arteries was performed with continuous 6-0 Prolene suture. After closure of left thoracotomy incision, the lung perfusion scan was performed post operative 2 days for evaluation of the function of the transplanted lung which showed good perfusion. The dog was sacrificed in the post-operative 5 days for autopsy.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.123-126
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• 1981

190 cases of the thoracic injuries experienced at the department of chest surgery, Chungnam National University Hospital, for 5 years from Jan. 1976 till Dec 1980, were analysed. The results are as follows; 1. The incidence rate of male to female was 5.1:1. The common age groups were 3rd, 4th and 5th decades, and the most common age group in the penetrating injury was 3rd decade. 2. The most common mode of the nonpenetrating injuries was a traffic accident [63.0%], and the most commonly used tool in the penetrating injuries is a knife [66.7%]. 3. The most common nonpenetrating injury was rib fracture [73.9%], and the common fracture sites were 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th ribs [especially, 7th rib]. The incidence rate of flail chest was 15% of the cases of the rib fractures. 4. The common associated injuries of the nonpenetrating were long bone fracture [18.3%], brain contusion [15.9%], and clavicle fracture etc.. 5. The common method of surgical treatment were closed thoracostomy [46.7%], thoracentesis, and open thoracotomy [7.4%] etc.. 6. The overall mortality was 2.8%. [Nonpenetrating; 0.8%, Penetrating; 6.3%]

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.281-294
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• 1977

Superior vena cava to pulmonary arterial shunting operation was made between the superior vena cava and the right pulmonary artery in the fashion of end-to-end anastomosis in 20 mongrel dogs. The experimental animals were divided into three group and blood flow in the superior vena cava was occluded for 20, 30 and 60 minutes respectively, and observations were made for the changes in caval pressure and cerebrospinal fluid pressure. And pathologic examinations were also performed. On occluding the caval blood flow, the superior vena caval pressure was sharply and immediately elevated from $103.5{\pm}19.8mmH_2O$ at thoracotomy to $556.4{\pm}86.lmmH_2O$ within 2 minutes to make its plateau thereafter, and the cerebrospinal fluid pressure followed closely the changes of the superior vena caval pressure in its level and pattern being elevated from $102.0{\pm}19.9mmH_2O$ to $490.5{\pm}79.9mmH_2O$. The drops of both the caval and cerebrospinal fluid pressures were definite and marked on opening the shunt flow through the anastomosis, but these postoperative pressures retained still higher ones above their levels measured at thoracotomy. The pathological examinations of the brain and the spinal cord were also performed in six animals. Characteristic changes uniformly seen in all area and in all animals were the findings of capillary congestion and perivascular edema. On the other hand, ischemic nerve cell changes were rather evident, revealing their degrees and extents being related to the prolongation of the time of caval occlusion which has followed by the sustained high pressures in both the superior vena and the cerebrospinal fluid. The experiment suggests the safety of this surgical procedure with minimal, if any, permanent damage as long as the occlusion of the caval blood flow is not prolonged beyond the expected.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.30 no.5
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• pp.517-523
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• 1997

The records of 14 patients with traumatic diaphragmatic rupture seen at Dongguk University Hospital from February 1992 through December 1995 were reviewed. Ten patients were male and four were female(M:F=2.5:1). The age distribution ranged from 17 to 73 years with the mean age of 41.7 years. The 14 patients included 12 who had blunt trauma(traffic accident 11, crushing injury 1) and 2 with penetrating diaphragmatic rupture(stab wound 2). Of those 12 blunt trauma, 7 patients(58.3%) were left sided and 5(41.7%) involved the right hemidiaphragm. The diagnosis was made preoperatively in 8 patients (57.1%) and during surgery in 6(42.9%). All right-sided injuries were repaired through a thoracotomy and left-sided defects were corrected through a laparotomy in 6, laparotomy and thoracotomy in 1. There were 2(14.3%) operative deaths that were caused by myocardial infarction and the sequelae of combined injuries.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.162-167
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• 1998

Between January 1976 and March 1997, six patients with delayed presentation of traumatic diaphragmatic hernia occured among the 52 patients of traumatic diaphragm rupture, of whom four males and two females, five by blunt trauma and one by stab wound, one was right side and the rest were left side. In all patients, reduction of herniated organs was accomplished by thoracotomy or thoracotomy with extension to abdomen. Suspicion of the diaphragmatic ruture from the acute traumatic chest injured patient is important and we can use the videothoracoscopy for evaluation and treatment of the traumatic diaphragm rupture

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.12
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• pp.1015-1022
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• 1994

Over the past few years, video-assisted thoracic surgery [VATS] has been used increasingly for intrathoracic pathologic problems as a less invasive operative techniques. Today it is viewed as a sparing and safe alternative to thoracotomy for a wide spectrum of indications. Using video-assisted operative thoracoscopy, we performed consecutive 150 operations on 148 patients during the initial 2 years of our experience from July 1992 with the following indications: pneumothorax [n=53], hyperhidrosis [n=29], mediastinal mass [n=23], pleural disease [n=13], diffuse parenchymal or interstitial lung disease [n=12], benign pulmonary nodule [n=7], metastatic lung mass [n=3], primary lung cancer [n=3], bronchiectasis [n=2], malignant pericardial effusion [n=2], endobronchial tuberculosis [n=1], esophageal achalasia [n=1], and pulmonary parenchymal foreign body [n=1]. There were no death, and overall complicaton rate was 24.0%[n=36]. The most prevalent complication was persistent air leakage [longer than 5 days] in 14 cases [9.3%]. Persistent pleural effusion [longer than 5 days] occurred in 6 cases [4.0%]. Six patients were converted to an open thoracotomy because of inability to control the operative bleeding [n=3], failed adhesiolysis in bronchiectasis [n=2], and radical excision of an lung cancer [n=1]. Pneumothorax recurred in 3 cases[2.0%]. Other complications were Horner`s syndrome, diaphragm tears, temporary phrenic nerve palsy, hoarseness, subsegmental atelectasis, transient respiratory difficulty, and esophageal mucosal tear. The advantages of this minimally traumatizing operative technique lie in improved visualization, decreased pain, shortened hospital stay, and less postoperative morbidity. The indications of VATS has been extended increasingly to intrathoracic pathologies, but its role in the managements of primary lung cancer and esophageal disease remains to be defined.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.106-111
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• 2008

Background: Chronic pain after thoracotomy has been recently reproduced in a rat model that allows investigating the effect of potentially beneficial drugs that might reduce the incidence of allodynia or alleviate pain. Local anesthetics produce antinociception in normal animals and alleviate mechanical allodynia in animals with nerve injury although their mechanisms of action may differ in these situations. Our purpose of this study was to test whether the preoperative intercostal nerve block of bupivacaine could prevent the development of allodynia in a rat model of chronic postthoracotomy pain. Methods: All male Sprague-Dawley rats were anesthetized and the right 4th and 5th ribs were exposed surgically. The pleura were opened between the ribs to which a retractor was placed and was opened 10 mm in width. Retraction was maintained for one hour. Total 1 mg of 0.5% bupivacaine was injected at the intercostal nerves before (n = 17) or after (n = 16) surgery. A control group (n = 25) that underwent rib retraction did not receive any drug. Rats were tested for mechanical allodynia using calibrated von Frey filaments applied around the incision site during the three weeks following surgery. Results: The incidence of development of mechanical allodynia in the group that received intercostal injection with bupivacaine before surgery was significantly lower than that in the control group (P < 0.05). Conclusions: Preoperative intercostal nerves block around the surgical incision before thoracotomy may decrease the incidence of postthoracotomy pain syndrome.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.7
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• pp.684-688
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• 1995

Hyperhidrosis, one of the abnormalities in autonomic nervous system, has been treated with dermatologic principles or thoracic sympathectomy via conventional axillary thoracotomy or dorsal spinal approach. But these techniques were rather ineffective or invasive. Recently, VATS is widely applied in thoracic surgical area, and hyperhidrosis is not the exception of these cases.From May 1993 to August 1994, 30 patients with bilateral palmar hyperhidrosis underwent bilateral thoracic [T2, T3 sympathectomy with thoracoscopic surgery at Seoul National University Hospital. There were 20 men and 10 women and the mean age was 23.0 years.Mean operating time was 115 min and there was no thoracotomy conversion. Operative complications were anesthetic overdose in 1, Horner`s syndrome in 1, and small amount of residual pneumothorax in 6. Mean postoperative hospital stay was 2.3 days [range from 1 to 4 days and postoperative analgesics were required in 17 cases with a single dose.Sweating amount was measured in 12 patients, showing significantly decreased amount from 284.5 mg preoperatively to 18.9 mg postoperatively in 5 minutes [p=0.004 . There was no recurrence during mean 6 months follow up. Twenty two patients [73.3 % complained moderate compensatory hyperhidrosis on the trunk.In conclusion, all patients were greatly satisfied with those results including no more palmar sweating, less pain, better cosmetics, short hospital stay. In addition, recent use of sweating amount measurement and intraoperative temperature monitoring could make this technique more accurate, so we easily applied thoracoscopic sympathectomy with minimal risk.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.29 no.11
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• pp.1257-1262
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• 1996

From January 1989 to February 1996, 50 patients with a traumatic diaphragmatic rupture were treated at the Yonsei University Wonju College of Medicine. There were 40 male and 10 female patients. The ages ranged from 2 to 80 years, with peak incidence in third decades. Thirty-nine cases had blunt trauma (traffic accident 29, falls down 7, others 3), and 11 cases had penetrating injuries (stab injury 9, gun shot 1, broken glass 1). The most common symptoms were dyspnea (76%), chest pain (58%), and abdominal pain (52%). In blunt trauma, the rupture was located in the left in 30 cases, right in 9 cases and in penetrating trauma, the rupture was located in the left in 8 cases and in the right in 3 cases. Eighteen cases underwent thoracotomy alone, 29 cases underwent laparotomy only and 3 cases had combined thoracotomy and laparotomy. The postoperative mortality occurred in 6% (3 cases), and the cause of death were septic shock (1), intracranial hemorrhage (1), and respiratory failure (1).

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.56 no.2
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• pp.120-125
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• 2023

Background: Multiple rib fractures are common in blunt chest trauma. Until recently, most surgical rib fixations for multiple rib fractures were performed via open thoracotomy. However, due to the invasive nature of tissue dissection and the resulting large wound, an alternative endoscopic approach has emerged that minimizes the postoperative complications caused by the manipulation of injured tissue and lung during an open thoracotomy. Methods: Our study concentrated on patients with multiple rib fractures who underwent surgical stabilization of rib fractures (SSRF) between June 2018 and May 2020. We found 27 patients who underwent SSRF using video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery. The study design was a retrospective review of the patients' charts and surgical records. Results: No intraoperative events or procedure-related deaths occurred. Implant-related irritation occurred in 4 patients, and 1 death resulted from concomitant trauma. The average hospital stay was 30.2±20.1 days, and ventilators were used for 12 of the 22 patients admitted to the intensive care unit. None of the patients experienced major pulmonary complications such as pneumonia or acute respiratory distress syndrome. Conclusion: Minimally invasive rib stabilization surgery with the assistance of a thoracoscope is expected to become more widely used in patients with multiple rib fractures. This method will also assist patients in a quick recovery.