• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.19 no.11
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• pp.635-644
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• 2018

This descriptive study examined the practical nursing guidelines for the prevention of pressure injuries (PI) in operating rooms and their application. Method: Four general hospitals and three specialized hospitals located in Seoul, Incheon, and Gyeonggido province were selected through an online randomization program and nurses at these hospitals who participated in operations and had at least six months work experience were surveyed. Data were collected from January to April 2018 through a survey distributed to 150 nurses, 129 of whom returned the survey (86% recovery rate). The results showed that 43 nurses provided PI prevention care for patients in a lateral position (33.3%), 37 for patients in a supine position (28.7%), and 36 for patients in a prone position (27.9%). Gel was most widely used as the supporting surface material (102 nurses; 79.1%), followed by sponge (62 nurses; 48.1%), and cotton (47 nurses; 36.4%). Skin was often inspected twice, before and after the use of a supporting surface (90nurses; 69.8%), but no designated tool was used to determine the risk of PI developing (76 nurses; 58.9%). Additionally, the patient's position during surgery (83 nurses; 64.3%) and the length of the operation (i.e., more than two hours, in this case) (49 nurses; 38.0%) were determining factors for whether to use a supporting surface. The operating room nurses used the gel, sponge, and cotton as the supporting surfaces for the prevention of PI and confirmed that the cutoff operation time for the use of a supporting surface was more than 2 hours.

• Journal of Korean Society of societal Security
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• v.1 no.2
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• pp.61-66
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• 2008

More than 70% of Korea consists of mountainous area and during the construction of roads and railroads many cut-slopes are inevitably formed. A number of environmental factors, such as the rainy season and frost heave during winter/thaw during spring, can result in rock falls and landslides. The failure of slopes is increasing every year and can cause damage to vehicles, personal injury and even fatality. In order to help protect people and property, there is a need for real-time monitoring systems to detect the early stages of slope failures. In this respect, the GMG has been using Translation Rotation Settlement (TRS) sensor units installed on slopes to monitor movement in real-time. However, the data lines of this system are vulnerable and the whole system can be damaged by a single lightning strike. In order to overcome this, GMG have proposed the use of Ubiquitous Sensor Networks (USN). The adoption of a USN system in lieu of data cables can help to minimize the risk of lightning damage and improve the reliability of slope monitoring systems.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.37-43
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• 2012

Purpose: A tube thoracostomy is an invasive procedure that places patients at risk for complications. Tube thoracostomies are frequently performed by emergency medicine residents. Thus, the purpose of the study was to assess both the complication rate for tube thoracostomies performed by emergency medicine residents and the factors associated with these complications. Methods: A retrospective chart review of all patients who had undergone a tube thoracostomy performed by emergency medicine residents between January 2008 and February 2009 was conducted at a university hospital. Complications were divided into major and minor complications and into immediate and delayed complications. Complications requiring corrective surgical intervention, requiring the administration of blood products, or involving situations requiring intravenous antibiotics were defined as major. Complications that were detected within 2 hours were defined as immediate. Results: Tube thoracostomies were performed in 189 patients, and 70 patients(37%) experienced some complications. Most complications were immediate and minor. In multiple logistic regressions, BMI, hypotension and resident seniority were significantly associated with complications. Conclusion: The prevalence of complications was similar to these in previous reports on the complications of a tube thoracostomy. Most complications from tube thoracostomies performed by emergency medicine residents were immediate and minor complications. Thus, emergency medicine residents should be allowed to perform closed tube thoracostomies instead of thoracic surgeons.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.104-111
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• 2020

Purpose: Although exchange nailing is a standard method of treating femoral shaft nonunion, various rates of healing, ranging from 72% to 100%, have been reported. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the efficacy of exchange nailing in femoral shaft nonunion. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 30 cases of aseptic femoral shaft nonunion after intramedullary nailing. The mean postsurgical period of nonunion was 66.8 weeks. A nail at least 2 mm larger in diameter was selected to replace the previous nail after reaming. Distal fixation was performed using at least two interlocking screws. The success of the procedure was determined by the finding of union on simple radiographs. Possible reasons for failure were analyzed, including the location of nonunion, the type of nonunion, and the number of screws used for distal fixation. Results: Of the 30 cases, 27 achieved primary healing with the technique of exchange nailing. The average time to achieve union was 23.1 weeks (range, 13.7-36.9 weeks). The three failures involved nonunion at the isthmic level (three of 15 cases), not at the infraisthmic level (zero of 15 cases). Of eight cases of oligotrophic nonunion, two (25%) failed to heal, and of 22 cases of hypertrophic nonunion, one (4.5%) failed to heal. Of 11 cases involving two screws at the distal fixation, two (18.2%) failed to heal, and of 19 cases involving three or more screws, one (5.3%) failed to heal. None of these findings was statistically significant. Conclusions: Exchange nailing may enable successful healing in cases of aseptic nonunion of the femoral shaft. Although nonunion at the isthmic level, oligotrophic nonunion, and weaker distal fixation seemed to be associated with a higher chance of failure, further study is needed to confirm those findings.

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.15 no.20
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• pp.8793-8796
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• 2014

Objective: To explore the influence of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) level on therapeutic outcome and diagnosis/prognostic value in patients with cervical cancer. Materials and Methods: A total of 37 patients diagnosed with cervical cancer by biopsy were selected and treated with concurrent chemoradiotherapy. Double-antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was adopted before treatment to assess VEGF levels, and its relationships with clinicopathological features and short-term therapeutic effects were analyzed. Results: The median VEGF level in 37 patients before treatment was 647.15 (393.35~1125.16) pg/mL. Serum VEGF levels in patients aged <50 years, in International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics (FIGO) stage IIIa~IVa, with lymph node metastasis and tumor size >4 cm were significantly increased (P<0.05). The complete remission (CR) rate was 48.7% (18/37), partial remission (PR) rate was 35.1% (13/37), stable disease (SD) rate was 13.5% (5/37) and progressive disease (PD) rate was 2.70% (1/37), so the objective remission rate (ORR) after treatment was 83.8% (31/37). Logistic regression analysis showed that tumor size and serum VEGF level before treatment were independent risk factors affecting the therapeutic outcome, and the higher the level of serum VEGF, the worse the prognosis when tumor size>4 cm. Some 56.8% of patients manifested with myelosuppression, 37.8% with leucopenia, 24.3% with thrombocytopenia, 5.41% with diarrhea, 46.0% with nausea and vomiting, 21.6% with hair loss and 8.11% with hepatic and renal injury during the treatment. Conclusions: Serum VEGF level may reflect the degree of malignancy of cervical cancer and predict therapeutic effect, which is of great importance to cancer diagnosis and prognosis.

• Journal of The Korean Society of Integrative Medicine
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.139-147
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• 2020

Purpose : Proprioceptive position sense plays a key role in providing joint stability, and multiple factors are related to proprioceptive position sense. Thus, this study aimed to determine the effects of body composition, particularly skeletal muscle mass on proprioceptive position sense following muscle fatigue. Methods : Healthy female subjects agreed to have their body composition analyzed. Only subjects who had 18.5-22.9 kg/㎡ of BMI (body mass index) were included in this study, and the participants were divided into two groups by skeletal muscle mass level. The experimental group had a level of skeletal muscle lower than the standard level (n=9), while the control group showed a standard or high level of skeletal muscle mass (n=11). To determine the change in proprioceptive position sense of the knee joint, the absolute angle error (AAE) was evaluated following muscle fatigue on low extremity. The muscle fatigue was induced by isokinetic resistance exercise program of Biodex system. AAE was measured by the Biodex system and compared the result before and after muscle fatigue. Results : The experimental group showed a significant AAE difference between before (3.16±2.48 °) and after (5.40±2.61 °) muscle fatigue. In addition, there was a AAE difference between the experimental (5.40±2.61 °) and control groups (3.53±1.67 °) after fatigue; however, there was no significance. Those results indicated that low level of skeletal muscle mass might influence the proprioceptive position sense of the knee joint after muscle fatigue. Conclusion : Thus, maintaining the proper level of skeletal muscle mass is pivotal to reduce the risk of injury following muscle fatigue in ADL or sport activities.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.4 no.3
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• pp.160-165
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• 2013

Background: Occupational accidents are unplanned events that cause damage. The socio-economic impacts and human costs of accidents are tremendous around the world. Many fatalities happen every year in workplaces such as electricity distribution companies. Some electrical injuries are electrocution, electric shock, and burns. This study was conducted in an electricity distribution company (with rotational 12-hour shift work) in Iran during an 8-year period to survey descriptive factors of injuries. Methods: Variables collected included accident time, age of injured worker, employment type, work experience, injury cause, educational background, and other information about accidents. Results: Results indicated that most of the accidents occurred in summer, and 51.3% were during shift work. Worker negligence (malpractice) was the cause of 75% of deaths. Type of employment had a significant relationship with type of injuries (p < 0.05). Most injuries were electrical burns. Conclusion: High rate of accidents in summer may be due to the warm weather or insufficient professional skills in seasonal workers. Shift workers are at risk of sleep complaints leading to a high rate of work injuries. Acquiring knowledge about safety was related to job experiences. Temporary workers have no chance to work all year like permanent workers, therefore impressive experiences may be less in them. Because the lack of protective equipment and negligence are main causes of accidents, periodical inspections in workshops are necessary.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Industry Convergence
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.665-671
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• 2019

The estimated on-site accident rate in Forestry is relatively high. According to statistics of the accident, in the recent 5 years, from 2014 to 2018, forestry accidents have resulted in 98% of injuries and 87% of fatalities. Especially, there are significant geographical constraints to access to the scene in case of an accident. Even though the capacity of first aid capacity is notably emphasized its importance to minimize the scale of damages, the relevant employees have been educated only basic first aid, which is not considered circumstances or geographic limitations, by Occupation Safety and Health Acts. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to derive a direction for a forest emergency service system to increase forestry workers' survival and prevent secondary injury through securing 'Golden Time.' This study conducts analyzing relevant laws and regulations in domestic and international settings as well as looking at several concerned accident cases. The outcome of analysis presents an issue regarding the implementation of onsite first aid in forestry and existing risk factors depending on the working process. Finally, we suggest two ways to improve the forest emergency service that are 1) an appropriate curriculum and kit for forest first aid; and 2) a system for emergency transfer through sharing information between National Fire Agency (NFA) and emergency medical service center, and emergency and rescue mission using helicopter from NFA and Korea Forest Service.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.27 no.2
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• pp.177-184
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• 2021

Purpose: Traffic accidents are the major cause of death in children. Car seat usage in children is important to reduce the risk of death or injury caused by traffic accidents. This study aims to analyze the trends of car seat use among children ages under 6. Methods: This study adopted a cross-sectional study utilizing the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2015 to 2019. In total, 1,999 responses were included for the analysis. Factors associated with car seat use were age, sex, body weight, height, family type, household income, and monthly household income. Regression analysis was used to compare the car seat use before and after the revision of the Road Traffic Act (2015~2018 vs. 2019). Results: We found that car seat use was increasing by year, age, region, and household income. Car seat use was higher after fines increased in 2019. Age and body weight had negative association with car seat use, while height and household income had positive association with car seat use. Conclusion: Car seat use increased from 2015 to 2019 and is associated with different ages among children and household income. Further education and promotion that describes the safety benefits to children from car seat use are needed.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.45-52
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• 2019

Background: Scapular dyskinesis is one of the risk factors for upper extremity injury in patients with chronic stroke. Taping can used as an adjunctive treatment for this. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of rigid tape in conjunction with elastic tape and elastic tape only on shoulder pain, proprioceptor, and function of chronic stroke patients with scapular dyskinesis. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to elastic tape (ET) group (n=10) and both tape (BT) group (n=10). Both ET and BT groups performed therapeutic exercise on the upper extremity with taping applied for 4 weeks. Therapeutic exercise was performed 30min/day, 5 times/week. Clinical outcome measures used Numerical pain rating scale with a faces pain scale for pain, angle at shoulder join position sense (JPS) for proprioceptor, and Fugl-meyer assessment upper extremity for function. Results: Clinical outcomes were measured at initial baseline, after 4weeks. There were statistically significant differences in pain, JPS, and function after 4 weeks in both groups (p<.05). There was no significant difference in pain and JPS between the groups, and There was a statistically significant difference in function in the BT group compared to the ET group (p<.05). Conclusions: This results suggest that accurate clinical assessment and appropriate taping can improve proprioceptor and function of the upper extremity in patients with chronic stroke.