• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.430-433
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• 1996

It is common practice to use epidural catheter for anesthesia or for postoperative analgesia and other kinds of pain control. However, Intraspinal infection associated with this practice is rare event. We report a case of spinal subdural abscess occuring in patient who had recently received epidural catheterization. The cause in this case is not certain, although infection from the epidural catheter is the best possibility. We recommand an aseptic technique in all procedure for epidural or spinal analgesia.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.296-300
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• 1997

Continuous epidural analgesia has been used widely for treatment of acute abdominal postoperative pain. Neurologic complications related to epidural analgesia occur infrequently but may be caused by various chemical, mechanical, ischemic or idiopathic factors. We report a case of abdominal hysterectomy in which unilateral lower extremity paralysis occurred after continuous epidural analgesia.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.289-294
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• 2016

Background: Control of postoperative pain is an important aspect of postoperative patient management. Among the methods of postoperative pain control, patient-controlled analgesia (PCA) has been the most commonly used. This study tested the convenience and safety of a PCA method in which the dose adjusted according to time. Methods: This study included 100 patients who had previously undergone orthognathic surgery, discectomy, or total hip arthroplasty, and wished to control their postoperative pain through PCA. In the test group (n = 50), the rate of infusion was changed over time, while in the control group (n = 50), drugs were administered at a fixed rate. Patients' pain scores on the visual analogue scale, number of rescue analgesic infusions, side effects, and patients' satisfaction with analgesia were compared between the two groups. Results: The patients and controls were matched for age, gender, height, weight, and body mass index. No significant difference in the mount of drug administered was found between the test and control groups at 0-24 h after the operation; however, a significant difference was observed at 24-48 h after the operation between the two groups. No difference was found in the postoperative pain score, number of side effects, and patient satisfaction between the two groups. Conclusions: Patient-controlled anesthesia administered at changing rates of infusion has similar numbers of side effects as infusion performed at a fixed rate; however, the former allows for efficient and safe management of postoperative pain even in small doses.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.247-251
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• 2023

Background: While some evidence indicates that propofol-based anesthesia has less postoperative pain than sevoflurane-based anesthesia, these results are controversial. We compared acute postoperative pain intensity and opioid consumption after total shoulder arthroplasty between propofol-remifentanil (PR) and sevoflurane-remifentanil (SR) anesthesia. Methods: Among 48 patients undergoing shoulder arthroscopic surgery anesthetized with PR or SR, postoperative pain intensity was assessed at 30 minutes and at 2, 6, 12, and 24 hours. The total patient-controlled analgesia volume and number of patients requiring rescue analgesics were assessed. Results: No significant difference in postoperative pain intensity was observed between the two groups. Postoperative opioid consumption and analgesic requirements were also comparable in the first 24 hours after surgery. Conclusion: PR and SR anesthesia for shoulder arthroscopic surgery provide comparable postoperative analgesia results.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.197-201
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• 2006

Background: There are cases in which shoulder pain persists long after shoulder joint surgery and this pain can not be reduced by intravenous patient controlled analgesia (IVPCA). Our purpose was to evaluate the effect of stellate ganglion block (SGB) on postoperative shoulder pain and also to investigate the effect of preventive SBG on complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS). Methods: Forty patients, who were evaluated to ASA class 1 and 2 and who were scheduled for shoulder joint surgery under general anesthesia, were randomly divided into 2 groups. The experimental group of patients (n = 20) received SGB with 0.5% mepivacaine 8 ml after induction of general anesthesia. The control group of patients (n = 20) received only general anesthesia. Their postoperative pain was assessed using the visual analog scale (VAS) at 30 min, 1, 2, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours postoperatively. Whenever patients wanted supplemental analgesia, diclofenac sodium 75 mg was injected intramuscularly and the need for supplemental analgesia was recorded. Results: The experimental group of patients had significantly lower pain scores at 30 min, 1, 2 and 6 hours and also significantly lower analgesic requirement at 1, 2 and 6 hours. Conclusions: We found SGB was effective for controlling postoperative pain after shoulder joint surgery. Also, we could expect that SGB reduced the incidence of CRPS.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.124-132
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• 2005

Background: This study was performed to evaluate the dose-related effects of naloxone on morphine analgesia in the rat formalin test, and observe the correlation of pain behavior and spinal c-fos expression induced by a formalin injection. Methods: Fifty rats were divided into five groups; control, morphine (morphine pre-treated, intra-peritoneal injection of 0.1 mg of morphine 5 min prior to formalin injection), and three naloxone groups, which were divided according to the administered dose-ratio of naloxone to morphine 20 : 1 ($5{\mu}g$), 10 : 1 ($10{\mu}g$), and 1 : 1 ($100{\mu}g$) representing the low-, medium-, and high-dose naloxone groups, respectively, were injected intra-peritoneally 16 min after a formalin. A fifty ul of 5% formalin was injected into the right hind paw. All rats were observed for their pain behavior according to the number of flinches during phases 1 (2-3, 5-6 min) and 2 (1 min per every 5 min from 10 to 61 min). The spinal c-fos expression was quantitatively analyzed at 1 and 2 hours after the formalin injection using a real-time PCR. Results: The morphine pre-treated (morphine and three naloxone) groups during phase 1, and the morphine, low- and medium-dose naloxone groups during phase 2, showed significantly less flinches compared to those of the control (P < 0.05). In the three naloxone groups, the numbers of flinches were transiently reduced following the naloxone injection in the low- and medium-dose groups compared to those of the morphine group (P < 0.05). The duration of the reduced flinches was longer in the medium-dose group (P < 0.05). The high-dose group revealed immediate increases in flinches immediately after the naloxone injection compared to those of the morphine, low- and medium-dose groups (P < 0.05 for each). The spinal c-fos expression showed no significant patterns between the experimental groups. Conclusions: Our data suggest that relatively low-dose naloxone (1/20 to 1/10 dose-ratio of morphine) transiently potentiates morphine analgesia; whereas, high-dose (equal dose-ratio of morphine) reverses the analgesia, and the spinal c-fos expression does not always correlate with pain behavior in the rat formalin test.

• The Journal of Korean Medicine Ophthalmology and Otolaryngology and Dermatology
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.138-151
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• 2003

Although the use of acupuncture for pain has increased in recent years, the mechanisms of acupuncture analgesia (AA) remains obscure. The lack of suitable experimental animal models for persistent pain, which show clear AA, has been the major stumbling block in the investigation of the physiological mechanisms of AA. In the present study, we test AA in two knee arthritis model induced by injection of CFA or carrageenan as a chronic pain model. After induction of arthritis, the rat subsequently showed a reduced stepping force of the affected limb for the next several days. Electroacupuncture (EA) was applied to an acupuncture point each on the contralateral forelimb for 30 minutes under enflurane anesthesia. After the termination of EA, behavioral tests measuring stepping force were periodically conducted during the next several hours. EA produced a significant improvement of stepping force of the foot lasting for at least 2 hours when applied to LR2 In CFA model, and applied to ST36 in carrageenan model, but both points did not produce any significant effects in each other model. These data suggest that EA produce analgesic effect in knee arthritic pain and the analgesic effect is specific to the acupuncture point.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.44-52
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• 2010

Purpose: The study examined the effects of preoperative patient controlled analgesia (PCA) education on postoperative pain, knowledge of PCA, and attitude toward pain medication. Methods: The participants were patients who underwent surgery in H University Hospital,and were assigned to PCA group (experiment group, n=30) or the control group (n=30). Results: Knowledge of PCA and positive attitude toward pain medication were higher in the experiment group than in the control group. Postoperative pain scores in the experiment group were significantly lower than those in the control group at 48 and 72 hr after surgery, but there was no significant difference at 24 hr after surgery. The experiment group had more positive attitudes on the medication than the control group. Conclusions: Preoperative PCA education could be an effective nursing intervention for pain management of patients after surgery.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.93-101
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• 2018

Background: Magnesium is one of the effective, safe local anesthetic adjuvants that can exert an analgesic effect in conditions presenting acute and chronic post-sternotomy pain. We studied the efficacy of continuous infusion of presternal magnesium sulfate with bupivacaine for pain relief following cardiac surgery. Methods: Ninety adult patients undergoing valve replacement cardiac surgery randomly allocated into three groups. In all patients; a presternal catheter was placed for continuous infusion of either 0.125% bupivacaine and 5% magnesium sulfate (3 ml/h for 48 hours) in group 1, or 0.125% bupivacaine only in the same rate in group 2, versus conventional intravenous paracetamol and ketorolac in group 3. Rescue analgesia was iv $25{\mu}g$ fentanyl. Postoperative Visual Analog Scale (VAS) and fentanyl consumption during the early two postoperative days were assessed. All patients were followed up over two months for occurrence of chronic post-sternotomy pain. Results: VAS values showed high significant differences during the first 48 hours with the least pain scale in group 1 and significantly least fentanyl consumption ($30.8{\pm}7{\mu}g$ in group 1 vs. $69{\pm}18{\mu}g$ in group 2, and $162{\pm}3$ in group 3 respectively). The incidence of chronic pain has not differed between the three groups although it was more pronounced in group 3. Conclusions: Continuous presternal bupivacaine and magnesium infusion resulted in better postoperative analgesia than both presternal bupivacaine alone or conventional analgesic groups.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.146-153
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• 2011

Background: Morphine has been commonly used for postoperative pain control. We measured plasma concentrations of morphine and compared the efficacy and safety of continuous epidural analgesia (CEA) using morphinebupivacaine with intravenous patient controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) with morphine for 48 hrs after the end of the operation. Methods: Nineteen patients undergoing Mile's operation were assigned to receive a morphine loading dose of 5 mg followed by IV-PCA with 0.1% morphine (IV-PCA group, n = 9) or a morphine loading dose of 2 mg and 0.125% bupivacaine 10 ml, followed by CEA with 0.004% morphine and 0.075% bupivacaine at a rate of 5 ml/hr (CEA group, n = 10). The plasma concentrations of morphine were measured and visual analog scales (VAS) for pain were recorded at 1, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hr postoperatively and the effects on respiration and any other side effects were noted. Results: The mean maximal and minimal levels of plasma morphine were $40.2{\pm}21.2\;ng/ml$ and $23.4{\pm}9.7\;ng/ml$ for the IV-PCA group and $11.8{\pm}3.5\;ng/ml$ and $8.2{\pm}1.9\;ng/ml$ for the CEA group, respectively. Resting and dynamic pain scores were significantly lower in the CEA group than in the IV-PCA group. There were no significant differences for the effects on respiration and for any side effects between the two groups. Conclusions: We evaluated plasma concentrations of morphine with CEA using morphine-bupivacaine and IV-PCA using morphine for the postoperative pain control. The CEA group had better postoperative analgesia than that of the IV-PCA group and the incidence of side effects were not significantly different between the two groups.