• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.64 no.1
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• pp.78-87
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• 2021

Objective : Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) has been widely used during spine surgery to reduce or prevent neurologic deficits, however, its application to the surgical management for cervical myelopathy remains controversial. This study aimed to assess the success rate of IONM in patients with cervical myelopathy and to investigate the factors associated with successful baseline monitoring and the effect of increasing the stimulation intensity by focusing on motor evoked potentials (MEPs). Methods : The data of 88 patients who underwent surgery for cervical myelopathy with IONM between January 2016 and June 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. The success rate of baseline MEP monitoring at the initial stimulation of 400 V was investigated. In unmonitorable cases, the stimulation intensity was increased to 999 V, and the success rate final MEP monitoring was reinvestigated. In addition, factors related to the success rate of baseline MEP monitoring were investigated using independent t-test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, chi-squared test, and Fisher's exact probability test for statistical analysis. The factors included age, sex, body mass index, diabetes mellitus, smoking history, symptom duration, Torg-Pavlov ratio, space available for the cord (SAC), cord compression ratio (CCR), intramedullary increased signal intensity (SI) on magnetic resonance imaging, SI length, SI ratio, the Medical Research Council (MRC) grade, the preoperative modified Nurick grade and Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score. Results : The overall success rate for reliable MEP response was 52.3% after increasing the stimulation intensity. No complications were observed to be associated with increased intensity. The factors related to the success rate of final MEP monitoring were found to be SAC (p<0.001), CCR (p<0.001), MRC grade (p<0.001), preoperative modified Nurick grade (p<0.001), and JOA score (p<0.001). The cut-off score for successful MEP monitoring was 5.67 mm for SAC, 47.33% for the CCR, 3 points for MRC grade, 2 points for the modified Nurick grade, and 12 points for the JOA score. Conclusion : Increasing the stimulation intensity could significantly improve the success rate of baseline MEP monitoring for unmonitorable cases at the initial stimulation in cervical myelopathy. In particular, the SAC, CCR, MRC grade, preoperative Nurick grade and JOA score may be considered as the more important related factors associated with the success rate of MEP monitoring. Therefore, the degree of preoperative neurological functional deficits and the presence of spinal cord compression on imaging could be used as new detailed criteria for the application of IONM in patients with cervical myelopathy.

• Korean Journal of Clinical Laboratory Science
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.317-326
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• 2020

Deep blocking of consciousness alone does not prevent a reaction to severe stimuli, and copious amounts of pain medication do not guarantee unconsciousness. Therefore, anesthesia must satisfy both: the loss of consciousness as well as muscle relaxation. Muscle relaxants improve the intra-bronchial intubation, surgical field of vision, and operating conditions, while simultaneously reducing the dose of inhalation or intravenous anesthesia. Muscle relaxants are also very important for breathing management during controlled mechanical ventilation during surgery. Excessive dosage of such muscle relaxants may therefore affect neurological examinations during surgery, but an insufficient dosage will result in movement of the patient during the procedure. Hence, muscle relaxation anesthesia depth and neurophysiological monitoring during surgery are closely related. Using excessive muscle relaxants is disadvantageous, since neurophysiological examinations during surgery could be hindered, and eliminating the effects of complete muscle relaxation after surgery is challenging. In the operation of neurophysiological monitoring during the operation, the anesthesiologist administers muscle relaxant based on what standard, it is hoped that the examination will be performed more smoothly by examining the trends in the world as well as domestic and global trends in maintaining muscle relaxant.

• Journal of the Korean Orthopaedic Association
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• v.55 no.6
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• pp.534-539
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• 2020

The management of severe scoliosis remains a challenge to spine surgeons. The rapid intraoperative correction of severe scoliosis may increase the risk of perioperative complications, such as neurological compromise and implant failure. To minimize these risks, various preoperative traction methods have been employed to achieve partial correction before performing definitive corrective surgery. On the other hand, some studies have shown that one of the complications associated with halo traction could lead to cranial nerve palsy, with the sixth nerve (abducens nerve) being most commonly affected. To reduce the complications, gradual increases in the traction weight and detailed neurological examinations are needed, particularly for patients who have previously undergone brain or cervical surgery. The authors report a case of sixth cranial nerve palsy by preoperative halo-pelvic traction in patients with severe scoliosis who underwent previous decompression surgery for a Chiari I malformation with a review of the relevant literature.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.163-171
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• 2023

Background: Surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars is the most common procedure performed by oral surgeons. The procedure cannot be performed effectively without achieving profound anesthesia. During this procedure, patients may feel pain during surgical bone removal (at the cancellous level) or during splitting and luxation of the tooth, despite administration of routine nerve blocks. Administration of intraosseous (IO) lignocaine injections during third molar surgeries to provide effective anesthesia for pain alleviation has been documented. However, whether the anesthetic effect of lignocaine is the only reason for pain alleviation when administered intraosseously remains unclear. This conundrum motivated us to assess the efficacy of IO normal saline versus lignocaine injections during surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars. The aim of this study was to assess the efficacy of IO normal saline as a viable alternative or adjunct to lignocaine for alleviation of intraoperative pain during surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars. Methods: This randomized, double-blind, interventional study included 160 patients who underwent surgical extraction of impacted mandibular third molars and experienced pain during surgical removal of the buccal bone or sectioning and luxation of the tooth. The participants were divided into two groups: the study group, which included patients who would receive IO saline injections, and the control group, which included patients who would receive IO lignocaine injections. Patients were asked to complete a visual analog pain scale (VAPS) at baseline and after receiving the IO injections. Results: Of the 160 patients included in this study, 80 received IO lignocaine (control group), whereas 80 received IO saline (study group) following randomization. The baseline VAPS score of the patients and controls was 5.71 ± 1.33 and 5.68 ± 1.21, respectively. The difference between the baseline VAPS scores of the two groups was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The difference between the numbers of patients who experienced pain relief following administration of IO lignocaine (n=74) versus saline (n=69) was not statistically significant (P > 0.05). The difference between VAPS scores measured after IO injection in both groups was not statistically significant (P >0.05) (1.05 ± 1.20 for the control group vs. 1.72 ± 1.56 for the study group) Conclusion: The study demonstrates that IO injection of normal saline is as effective as lignocaine in alleviating pain during surgical removal of impacted mandibular third molars and can be used as an effective adjunct to conventional lignocaine injection.

• Journal of Cerebrovascular and Endovascular Neurosurgery
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.50-61
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• 2023

Objective: To describe the roadmapping technique and our three-year experience in the management of intracranial aneurysms in the hybrid operating room. Methods: We analyzed all patients who underwent surgical clipping for cerebral aneurysms with the roadmapping technique from January 2017 to September 2019. We report demographic, clinical, and morphological variables, as well as clinical and radiological outcomes. We further describe three illustrative cases of the technique. Results: A total of 13 patients were included, 9 of which (69.2%) presented with subarachnoid hemorrhage, with a total of 23 treated aneurysms. All patients were female, with a mean age of 47.7 years (range 31-63). All cases were anterior circulation aneurysms, the most frequent location being the ophthalmic segment of the internal carotid artery (ICA) in 11 cases (48%), followed by posterior communicating in 8 (36%), and ICA bifurcation in 2 (8%). Intraoperative clip repositioning was required in 9 aneurysms (36%) as a result of the roadmapping technique in the hybrid operating room. There were no residual aneurysms in our series, nor reported mortality. Conclusions: The roadmapping technique in the hybrid operating room offers a complementary tool for the adequate occlusion of complex intracranial aneurysms, as it provides a real time fluoroscopic-guided clipping technique, and clip repositioning is possible in a single surgical stage, whenever a residual portion of the aneurysm is identified. This technique also provides some advantages, such as immediate vasospasm identification and treatment with intra-arterial vasodilators, balloon proximal control for certain paraclinoid aneurysms, and simultaneous endovascular treatment in selected cases during a single stage.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.40 no.11
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• pp.727-732
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• 2007

Background: The reciptents of aortic valve replacement or a Bentall operation usually display various degrees of mitral regurgitation. When deciding whether or not to correct the mitral regurgitation, one must consider its severity, underlying causes and operative risk. Recently, the operation method for correcting the concomitant mitral regurgitation has been done through aortic root to reduce the operation time and the cardiac trauma. We report our experiences that transaortic mitral valve commissuroplasty done with aortic valve replacement or a Bentall operation has been a simple, less invasive, effective method in the operative management of mitral valve regurgitation without significant organic changes. Material and Method: Between June 2002 and June 2005, twenty patients under-went mitral valve commissuroplasty via the aortic root with aortic valve replacement (n=14) or a Bentall operation (n=7). The mitral valve regurgitation of the patients didn't exceed a moderate (grade 2) degree and there was no significant organic disease. The preoperative diagnosis of MR was established by TTE and intraoperative TEE, and the patients were followed postoperatively by TTE. The operative technique was a simple anterolateral commissuroplasty of the mitral valve with a single mattress suture via the transaortic annular approach after excision of the aortic valve leaflets. Result: The mean patient age was 56.2 years and 65% (n=13) were male. The preoperative MR was mild (grade 1) in 9 (45%), mild to moderate in 8 (40%), and moderate (grade 2) in 3 (15%) patients. There were no operative mortalities. The MR improved in all patients (p=0.002) and the left ventricular ejection fraction (LV EF) improved in 14 (70%) patients (p=0.005). The mean cross-clamp time for the patients who under- went aortic valve replacement with transaortic mitral repair was $62.1{\pm}13.9 min$ and this was $137.5{\pm}7.2 min$ for the patients who underwent a Bentall operation with transaortic mitral repair. Conclusion: For selected patients without significant mitral organic disease, transaortic mitral valve commissuroplasty combined with aortic valve replacement or a Bentall operation may be a feasible, effective method without adding significant aortic cross clamping time and more cardiotomy.

• Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.153-159
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• 2003

Purpose : The purpose of this study was to compare the pattern of displaced bucket-handle tear of lateral and medial menisci and the treatment modality and results from accompanying injury. Materials and Methods : Patients who were diagnosed for displaced bucket-handle tear of medial meniscus (group I: 52patients, 52cases) and lateral meniscus (group II: 31patients, 32cases) from September 1998 to December 2002. The mean ages were 25years $(16\~66)$ for Group I and 29years $(18\~63)$ for Group II, and the average follow-up period were 18months $(12\~44)$ and 13months $(6\~46)$, respectively. The zone of meniscus tear and the existence of accompanying injury were verified through intraoperative arthroscopy and discoid type meniscus was additionally examined for group II. The assessment was made according to the physical examination and clinical pattern at the postoperative last follow-up, and the 2nd look arthroscopy was performed in 19cases $(23\%)$ for the cases accompanying anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury in both groups. Results : There were 38cases $(73\%)$ in group I, 5cases $(16\%)$ in group II for associating ACL injury. We observed discoid type meniscus (19cases, $59\%$) in group II. At last follow-up clinical success in repair cases of group I and II are 22cases $(85\%)$, 2cases $(67\%)$, in resection cases are 26cases $(100\%)$, 26cases $(93\%)$ respectively. Reoperation is performed 2cases in repair cases of group I. One case is re-rupture, the other case is newly developed tear in white-white zone. Reoperation is performed 2cases due to remnant meniscal tear in resection cases of group II. All of 2cases are discoid type menisci. Conclusion : Displaced bucket-handle tear of medial & lateral menisci would be substantially different an aspect, considering on difference would help to select proper treatment modality.