• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.33 no.3
• /
• pp.197-205
• /
• 2016

Objectives : To report the clinical application and safety of Traditional Korean Medical treatment for patients with low back pain during pregnancy. Methods : Three patients who suffered from low back pain during pregnancy were treated with acupuncture, pharmacopuncture, moxibustion, and herbal medicine for 12 to 21 days. Numeric rating scale (NRS) of low back pain and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) were checked to measure the outcome. A liver function and renal function test was carried out to identify any drug-induced liver or renal injury, and any adverse events were monitored thoroughly until delivery. Results : Low back pain reduced on NRS in all cases, and no serious adverse effects were found in the patients or infants. Conclusion : This study suggests that Traditional Korean Medical treatment is a candidate therapy for relieving low back pain during pregnancy, and also is safe for both patients and infants.

• Journal of Korean Society of Occupational and Environmental Hygiene
• /
• v.29 no.2
• /
• pp.236-250
• /
• 2019

Objectives: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of intensive rehabilitation programs on pain, range of motion (ROM), lumbar muscle strength, core muscle endurance, disability, and depression in patients with traumatic low back injuries and to compare the efficacy of this therapy with that of conventional rehabilitation therapy. Methods: The study was performed with a retrospective medical chart review of patients with traumatic low back injury referred to the rehabilitation center at the Daegu Hospital of the Korean Workers Compensation and Welfare Service. Forty-four patients were allocated to either the conventional rehabilitation group (CRG; n = 22) or the intensive rehabilitation group (IRG; n = 22). The CRG group patients, who received 30-min therapist-supervised physical therapy and modality therapy five times per week for four weeks, were compared with the IRG group patients, who received 60-min therapist-supervised physical therapy, 30-min therapist-patient 1:1 matching rehabilitation therapy, and modality therapy five times per week for four weeks. Outcome measures were a numerical rating scale, ROM, lumbar muscle strength, lumbar core muscle endurance, thickness of lumbar deep focal core muscle (transverse abdominis and lumbar multifidus), Oswestry disability index (ODI), and depression (Korean version patient health questionnaire-9). Results: There were statistically significant improvements after treatment in all outcome measures in both groups (p < 0.05). In the intergroup comparison, NRS scores on the activity and thickness of lumbar deep focal core muscles increased significantly more in the IRG than in the CRG (p < 0.05). There were no statistically significant intergroup differences in NRS scores on resting, ROM except left lateral bending, lumbar muscle strength, core muscle endurance, ODI, and depression. Conclusions: We could confirm the superior effectiveness of an intensive rehabilitation program compared to conventional rehabilitation therapy in patients with traumatic low back injuries.

• Physical Therapy Rehabilitation Science
• /
• v.2 no.1
• /
• pp.31-38
• /
• 2013

Objective: To determine the efficacy and reliability of measuring direct current microcurrent applied through the skin to determine injury in the underlying tissues. Design: Case control study. Methods: First, microcurrent was measured as decreased blood flow induced hypoxia in healthy subjects. Next, reliability was assessed by measuring over ten days with set variations in pressure and distance between the electrodes. Finally, measurements over sprained ankle were compared to measurements over comparable uninjured areas on the same injured subject. Results: For the blood flow test phase, microcurrent significantly decreased an average of 17% after 5 minutes (p<0.05), remained decreased for 30 seconds, and returned to non-occlusive levels after 2 minutes of normal circulation. The results indicate that the microcurrent decrease was not due to blood flow, and most likely from hypoxic cellular damage. For the reliability phase, the coefficients of variation averaged 10.3% for the shoulder, 14.8% for the low back, and 29.1% for the knee. Changing distance 2.5 cm between the electrodes resulted in insignificant changes. Changes in pressure had some significant effect after an increase in force of 2.6 N, affirming the need for consistent pressure for measurement. For the injury test phase, a significant 69% decrease occurred comparing injured areas to the same area on the uninjured side, and a significant 74% occurred comparing injured and non-injured areas on the same limb. Conclusions: Microcurrent through the skin shows promise as an objective method of assessing a soft tissue injury by detecting damage likely due to hypoxia.

• Journal of the Korea Safety Management & Science
• /
• v.6 no.3
• /
• pp.53-64
• /
• 2004

Repetition Strain Injury (RSI) is usually caused or aggravated by poor work processes and unsuitable working conditions - that involve repetitive or forceful movements or the maintenance of constrained or awkward postures. The condition is characterized by discomfort and persistent pain. There are three essential steps to eliminate or control hazards In workplace. Case and Demographic Characteristics for Work-related Injuries and illnesses Involving Days Away From Work, 2002. U.S' was examined. Causes of press operators' RSI were carpal tunnel syndrome(CTS), tendonitis, low back pain, and occupational stress. Recommendations for improvement of productivity are redesign of working conditions, exercise, prevent of RSI and avoiding stress.

• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
• /
• v.28 no.3 s.51
• /
• pp.715-725
• /
• 1995

This study was done for identifying the factors which affect psychologic symptoms of low back(LBP) patients. The study subjects were 43 work-related low back pain patients, 28 work-related non-low back pain patients and 47 general low back injury patients. The study materialis SCL 90-R for checking psychologic symptoms and questionnaire for obtaining general information about the subjects. The data were analyzed by model of analysis of covariance adjusted by several variables such as gender, age, education and marital status and then compared the least square means of symptom score between groups. To identify the factors that affect psychologic symptom, duration of suspension, return to work and interaction factor of these two variables were analyzed by multivariate model and we calcuated partial correlation coefficient of these variables. As a result, work-related LBP patients showed higher score of symptoms in somatization, depression and psychosis than work-related non-LBP and non-work-related LBP. Duration of suspension and return to work were significant explanatory variables for psychologic symptom score of work-related LBP. Then, we may conclude that the treatment and rehabilitation programe for work-related LBP should cover the strategy of early return to work.

• Journal of Korean Society of Transportation
• /
• v.34 no.6
• /
• pp.535-547
• /
• 2016

This study aims to identify factors that affect the degree of injury severity sustained in traffic crashes on work zone of Korean expressways. To this end, decision tree method was applied to identify influential factors on injury severity and compare characteristics of those factors between work zone and non-work zone. The results from the comparison show that the risk of severity was low when traffic volume and heavy vehicle ratio are high because the factors lower the overall section speed. On the other hand, when the traffic volume and the heavy vehicle ratio are low, the section speed increased and the tendency for high injury severity was confirmed. These findings are expected to help transportation planners and engineers understand which risk factors contribute more to severe injury in the work zones such that they can effectively prepare and implement safety countermeasures.

• Physical Therapy Korea
• /
• v.7 no.4
• /
• pp.56-64
• /
• 2000

최근에 작업현장에서 널리 사용되고 있는 허리보호대는 그 예방적 효과에 대한 확실한 검증이 이루어지지 않고 있다. 작업현장에서의 허리보호대의 예방적 효과에 대한 8편의 생체역학적(biomechanical) 연구들과 6편의 역학적(epidemiological) 연구들 그리고 2편의 종합적 연구들을 비교 정리하였다. 대부분의 생체역학적 연구들은 허리보호대의 기계적 작용과 그에 따른 예방적 효과와의 직접적인 상관관계를 보여주지 못하고 있다. 역학적 연구들은 일관성 없는 결과들을 발표하여 작업현장에서의 허리보호대의 예방적 효과에 대한 연구결과간의 비교를 어렵게 하고 있다. 좀더 확실한 결론을 얻기 위해서 앞으로 작업현장에서의 허리보호대의 예방적 효과에 대한 더 많은 연구가 있어야 할 것이다.

• The Journal of Korean Physical Therapy
• /
• v.15 no.1
• /
• pp.155-170
• /
• 2003

Lumbar segmental instability is considered to represent a significant sub-group within the chronic low back pain population. This condition has a unique clinical presentation that displays its symptoms and movement dysfunction within the neutral zone of the motion segment. The loosening of the motion segment secondary to injury and associated dysfunction of the local muscle system renders it biomechanically vulnerable in the neutral zone. There in evidence of muscle dysfunction related to the control of the movement system. There is a clear link between reduced proprioceptive input, altered slow motor unit recruitment and the development of chronic pain states. Dysfunction in the global and local muscle systems in presented to support the development of a system of classification of muscle function and development of dysfunction related to musculoskeletal pain. The global muscles control range of movement and alignment, and evidence of dysfunction is presented in terms of imbalance in recruitment and length between the global stability muscles and the global mobility muscles. The local stability muscles demonstrate evidence of failure of aeequate segmental control in terms of allowing excessive uncontrolled translation or specific loss of cross-sectional area at the site of pathology Motor recruitment deficits present as altered timing and patterns of recruitment. The evidence of local and global dysfunction allows the development of an integrated model of movement dysfunction. The clinical diagnosis of this chronic low back pain condition is based on the report of pain and the observation of movement dysfunction within the neutral zone and the associated finding of excessive intervertebral motion at the symptomatic level. Four different clinical patterns are described based on the directional nature of the injury and the manifestation of the patient's symptoms and motor dysfunction. A specific stabilizing exercise intervention based on a motor learning model in proposed and evidence for the efficacy of the approach provided.

• Journal of the Korean Institute of Electrical and Electronic Material Engineers
• /
• v.22 no.5
• /
• pp.431-435
• /
• 2009

The apparatus has been fabricated using the laser diode and microprocessor unit. The apparatus used a InGaAlP laser diode for laser medical therapy and was designed for a pulse width modulation type to increase stimulation effects. To raise the stimulus effect of the human body, the optical irradiation frequency could be set up. The study has executed in-vivo experiment by employing our own developed laser diode irradiation system to investigate the effects of the InGaAlP laser diode irradiation on the wound healing as a preliminary study aimed at the application of InGaAlP laser diode to wound healing of human skin injury. The study cut out whole skin layers of Sprague-Dawley rat on the back part in 1 cm circle and observed developing effects after executing light irradiation for 9 days, and in result it is found that the light irradiation rat showed earlier wound healing than non-irradiation rat during the experimental period. In addition, there are some differences found regarding the healing process between laser diode irradiated rats and non-irradiated ones.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
• /
• v.25 no.3
• /
• pp.29-39
• /
• 2008

Methods : We investigated 28 cases of patients with thoracolumbar compression fracture. We divided patients into two groups : We treated one group with complex oriental medical treatment focusing on Bee Venom Acupuncture therapy, and did the other group with complex oriental medical treatment focusing on acupuncture therapy. To investigate the effectiveness of treatment applied for two groups, we used Visual Analog Scale(VAS) and Oswestry Low-back Pain Disability Index(ODI). We compared the VAS score and ODI score of two groups statistically. Results : 1. Female is prominent in distribution of sex, the average age bracket is 70's, and the largest group was Faccidental fall in the distribution of cause. 2. In regard to level of injury, T12 was found to be most prominent, followed in turn by L1, L2. In regard to grade of clinical symptoms, Grade III was most prominent, followed by Grade IV, Grade II. 3. As a result of evaluation by using VAS score and ODI score, treatment score at final was significantly different from that at the baseline in each group. 4. After treatment, Bee Venom acupuncture therapy group showed significant difference on VAS score and ODI score compared with acupuncture therapy group. Conclusions : Bee Venom acupuncture therapy can be available for relieving symptoms related with thoracolumbar compression fracture.