• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.769-774
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• 2010

Purpose: As the soft tissue defect around the knee is difficult to reconstruct, local flap or free flap is used. Distally based anterolateral thigh pedicled flap introduced by Zhang uses sufficient reverse flow supplied from the vascular network around the knee. We report successful reconstruction of defect around knee by this method. Methods: Four patients with skin & soft tissue defect around knee have been treated for reconstruction using the distally based anterolateral thigh pedicled flap. First, the doppler was used to check the perforator flap of the descending branch of the lateral circumflex femoral artery and to draw and dissect the perforator flap as much as needed. After the dissection, the proximal of the descending branch was clamped and checked for sufficient supply of blood flow from the reverse flow and then ligated. It was dissected along the descending branch and in order to prevent damage to the joined parts of the descending branch and the lateral superior geniculate artery, a more careful ligation was done starting from 10 cm superior to the knee. The defect was reconstructed after securing enough vascular pedicle to cover all the damaged parts. Results: Not all patients suffered from flap necrosis. In case of the patient with chronic osteomyelitis, slight venous congestion was observed right after the surgery but it disappeared the following day. All three patients had no occurences of additional complications. Conclusion: Distally based anterolateral thigh pedicled flap was enough to provide large flap for knee reconstruction. It had sufficient blood flow and vascular pedicle. It also had taken short operation time compared to the free flap operation. The distally based anterolateral thigh pedicled flap used by the authors is a very useful way of reconstructing the area around knee.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.5 no.2
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• pp.249-257
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• 1992

It is general knowledge that knee joint pain can be attributed to trauma and degenerative change around the knee joint. However most patients who have suffered from pain or limited range of motion of the knee joint show no definite pathology on X-ray or laboratory examination. We examined 242 patients with knee joint pain and found compression or entrapment of the articular nerve fiber by the tissue around the knee joint resulted in pain in almost all cases. Conclusion: by relieving the compression of the articular nerve fiber with just physical therapy and LASER stimulation on the identified trigger points, in conjunction with NSAIDs, muscle relaxants, were found to be very effective in the treatment of knee joint pain.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.155-159
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• 2005

Purpose: To find out the pathologic symptoms, and the incidence and clinical significance of the coexistence of internal derangement of knee(IDOK) in osteochondroma around the knee. Materials and Methods: We retrospectively reviewed forty-five patients under 20 years of age treated with the excision of the osteochondroma around the knee between 1995 and 2004. We analyzed age, gender, past history, family history, solitary or multiple osteochondroma, presenting pathologic symptoms, and causes of IDOK. Results: IDOK was confirmed in nine(20%) among the 45 cases. There were four cases of multiple osteochondromatosis, and IDOK was coexisted in one case among them. The most common presenting pathologic symptoms were painless mass of 38 cases, however 9 cases among them had joint pain for IDOK. There were 7 cases of meniscal tears and 2 of pathologic plica. Discoid meniscus was found in 4 cases among the 7 cases of meniscal tears. Conclusion: Coexistence of osteochondroma around knee and IDOK in this study probably represents a coincidence rather than a real association. However the incidence might be not low, special study and close observation should be done.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.17 no.1
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• pp.7-13
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• 2008

Popliteal artery injury in blunt trauma of knee joint is not common but poses high rate of amputation due to anatomical characteristics or delayed diagnosis and treatment. The aim of the present study is to review the authors' experiences with this condition and identify factors contributing to disability. We reviewed 7 cases of popliteal artery injury in trauma around knee. Injury mechanism, type of vessel damage, associated injuries, mangled extremity severity scores (MESS), ischemic time and additional treatments were analyzed. Tibial fracture, distal femoral fracture and serious soft tissue defect were combined. Mean MESS was 9.9 point and mean time of revascularization was 7.1 hours. Transfemoral amputation was performed in 2 cases due to vascular insufficiency and devastating infection, and 4 patients were able to walk without any support at the last follow up. Age, the severity of soft tissue injury, ischemic time and MESS are thought to be related to prognosis, and young patients with short ischemic time show best results, but authors experienced one exceptional case. We have to consider multiple factors related to the prognosis in popliteal artery injury with fractures around knee, and careful decision is needed regarding to early amputation.

• Archives of Reconstructive Microsurgery
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• v.21 no.2
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• pp.143-148
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• 2012

Purpose: This report presents the authors' experience of twelve patients with sural artery flap for soft tissue defects around the knee joint. Materials and Methods: The patients' age ranged from 25 to 80 years; seven of the patients were male and five were female. The cause of soft-tissue defects involved wide excision for malignant soft tissue tumor, tumor prosthesis related infection, infection after total knee arthroplasty and chronic osteomyelitis. Postoperative range of motion was checked. The sensibility of flap was evaluated by Semmes-Weinstein monofilaments and two-point discrimination. Results: All flaps survived and provided satisfactory coverage of the defect. There was no complication except one delayed skin graft incorporation at donor site. Seven knee joints which had been stiff previously gained average 58 degrees of ROM postoperatively. All flaps retained sensibility and showed no significant increase in sensory thresholds comparing with contralateral side. Conclusion: Sural artery flap not only shows high survival rate and broad coverage ability, but also offers improvement in range of motion and preservation of sensation. We speculate that sural artery flap is valuable for the reconstruction of the soft tissue defects around knee joint.

• Korean Journal of Applied Biomechanics
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.75-81
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• 2010

Knee osteoarthritis is one of the most prevalent arthritis that weakens the muscles. This study focused on evaluating muscular functionality of knee osteoarthritis subjects. Muscular strengths of muscles around knee and hip joints of middle-aged female subjects aged over 40 suffering from knee osteoarthritis were evaluated by isokinetic dynanometer. Also, relation between the observed muscle imbalance in knee and hip joints and visual analogue scale was investigated. Subjects performed 8-weeks exercise on weakened muscles - particularly on knee extensors and hip abductors - and had their isokinetic muscular functionalities analyzed again. After the 8-weeks exercise, subjects' thigh circumferences were increased, accompanied with muscular strength improvements and decrease in visual analogue scale. Hence we emphasize the importance of exercise for muscular strength enhancement of knee extensors and hip abductors, in rehabilitation programs for knee osteoarthritis.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.36 no.4
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• pp.369-375
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• 2023

Purpose: The reconstruction of defects around the knee and the proximal third of the leg necessitates thin, pliable skin with a stable and sensate soft tissue cover. This study analyzed the use of a proximally based sural artery flap for the coverage of such defects. Methods: This prospective clinical interventional study involved 10 patients who had soft tissue defects over the knee and the proximal third of the leg. These patients underwent reconstruction with a proximally based sural artery flap. The study analyzed various factors including age, sex, etiology, location and presentation of the defect, defect dimensions, flap particulars, postoperative complications, and follow-up. Results: There were 10 cases, all of which involved men aged 20 to 65 years. The most common cause of injury was trauma resulting from road traffic accidents. The majority of defects were found in the proximal third of the leg, particularly on the anterolateral aspect. Defect dimensions varied from 6×3 to 15×13 cm², and extensive defects as large as 16 cm×14 cm could be covered using this flap. The size of the flaps ranged from 7×4 to 16×14 cm², and the pedicle length was 10 to 15 cm. In all cases, donor site closure was achieved with split skin grafting. This flap consistently provided a thin, pliable, stable, and durable soft tissue cover over the defect with no functional deficit and minimal donor site morbidity. Complications, including distal flap necrosis and donor site graft loss, were observed in two cases. Conclusions: The proximally based sural fasciocutaneous flap serves as the primary method for reconstructing medium to large soft tissue defects around the knee and the proximal third of the leg. This technique offers thin, reliable, sensate, and stable soft tissue coverage, and can cover larger defects with minimal complications.

• The Journal of the Korean bone and joint tumor society
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.51-58
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• 2012

Purpose: This study attempts to know functional results and gait analysis usefulness in patients with bone tumor around knee joint tumors who underwent prosthesis knee joint reconstruction. Materials and Methods: Retrospective study was conducted with 7 patients out of 30 patients who underwent prosthesis knee joint reconstruction after wide marginal excision for bone tumor around knee in orthopedics of this hospital from 2001 to 2010. Functional assessment and gait analysis were perforemed. Results: For the SF-36 score, while 'role physical' and 'role emotional' items showed 100% (100 points) high scores individually, general health, physical function, vitality, and social function showed low scores. The mean score of MSTS was 88.1% (23.8 points [17-27]), indicating a relatively high score. For the gait analysis, mean gait velocity was 97.2 m/s, mean cadence was 105.6 step/min, mean stride length was 111.3 m, mean step length was 61.5 cm, swing phase was 39.8%cycle, stance phase was 60.1%cycle, mean single limb support was 37.1%cycle, mean double limb support was 13.0%cycle, and mean push off was 60.7%cycle. Conclusion: It is expected that prosthesis reconstruction after wide marginal excision for bone tumor around knee has relatively good functional results. Gait analysis was considered one of method which showed gait phase and assessed functional ability objectively by quantitative assessment post operative patient condition. It might help treatment and post operative rehabilitation planning with the functional assessment.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society of Precision Engineering Conference
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• 2005.06a
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• pp.881-887
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• 2005

A total knee replacement is an extremely 'position-sensitive' operation; a malposition or a malalignment of the components will lead to a breakage of the component, a fracture around the knee prosthesis, and the limitation of range of the motion, etc. In a conventional total knee replacement, surgeons have to select an appropriate prosthesis according to the shape of the surgical region. A wrong selection may give rise to side effects or to need re-operation. Nevertheless, it is so difficult to choose the most proper prosthesis out of various kinds of prosthesis. This paper presents a surgical planning system for the total knee replacement with an operation simulating method in order to determine the parameters for the total knee replacement operation. We select an alignment axis and a resection angle as major operation parameters in the total knee replacement operation, and introduce the method to determine the major operation parameters with the operation simulator we developed. The simulator is used to determine operation parameters for optimized operations, to select the most appropriate prosthesis, and to analyze the prospective problems of the operation.

• Physical Therapy Korea
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.45-54
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• 2005

The quadriceps-angle (Q-angle) and the ratio of hamstring/quadriceps (H/Q) are important for the stability of the knee and for protection from excessive stress. The aim of this study was to examine the association between Q-angle and H/Q ratio with and without knee osteoarthritis. We compared knee osteoarthritis patients with symptom-free women. The mean age of the patients in the arthritis group (25 women, osteoarthritis) was 59.7 years. The non-arthritis group consisted of 25 women with a mean age of 55.2 years. Of the 25 women with osteoarthritis, 5 had the condition in their left knee, 5 had it in their right knee, and 15 had it on both sides. There was no significant difference in the knee Q-angle of the left and right knees of the arthritis group and the non-arthritis-group (p>.05). The strength of all the muscles around the involved right knee in the arthritis group was significantly weaker than that of the non-arthritis group (p<.05). However, in the left knee, only the strength of the knee extensors and internal rotators was significantly weaker than that of the non-arthritis group (p<.05). The Q-angle was not associated with the H/Q ratio and internal rotators/external rotators ratio of the involved knee in the arthritis group (p>.05). Neither was the Q-angle associated with the pain level of an involved knee in the arthritis group (p>.05). The knee pain was not associated with the H/Q ratio of the involved knee in the arthritis group (p>.05). The Q-angle was not associated with the ratio of H/Q and pain level of the involved knee in the osteoarthritis women.