• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.232-239
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• 2022

Purpose: The recent increase in electric scooter (e-scooter) use has been accompanied by an increase in injuries from e-scooter-related accidents. Studies have reported that most such injuries are minor, and physicians may therefore underestimate the severity of such injuries. This study investigated the types and severity of injuries caused by isolated e-scooter accidents (i.e., those that did not involve colliding with other cars or falling from heights). Methods: This prospective observational study was conducted from May to December 2021 at Dankook University Hospital tertiary medical center. The demographic data of patients injured in isolated e-scooter-related accidents were collected. All injuries were categorized by body part. Results: Fifty eligible patients visited our emergency department during the study period. Of these, 76% were categorized as nonemergency, and 62% were discharged after initial evaluation and treatment at the emergency department. Another 10% were admitted to the intensive care unit (ICU) and 18% to the ward, with nine patients receiving at least one operation. The average hospital stays were 2.4 days in the ICU and 9 days in the ward. One death occurred due to traumatic brain injury (overall mortality rate, 2%). Multiple fractures of the left third through ninth ribs combined with lung laceration and fractures of T12 and L4 were noted. Conclusions: Various types and severities of injuries can occur in isolated e-scooter accidents. While most such injuries are minor, some will require ICU admission or surgery, and deaths can occur. Physicians should not underestimate the severity of such injuries.

• The Academic Congress of Korean Shoulder and Elbow Society
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• 2009.03a
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• pp.21-21
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• 2009

There are some patients who have traumatic anterior shoulder instability due to minor injuries like overhead activities. The purpose of this study was to clarify characteristic features of traumatic anterior shoulder instability due to minor injuries. According to the mechanism of injury in an initial dislocation, 83 shoulders that underwent the stabilizing surgery for traumatic anterior shoulder instability were divided into two groups. Traumatic group included patients who suffered from a fall or a direct injury. Minor injury group included patients who suffered from the other injury like overhead activity. General joint laxity, range of motion and laxity under anesthesia, and intraarticular findings were compared between two groups. The morphology of superior and middle glenohumeral ligaments, Bankart lesion, Hill-Sachs lesion, and partial articular surface tendon avulsion lesion were observed in arthroscopy. Minor injury group consisted of 19 shoulders with 8 males, 11 females and the mean age of 22.5 years. Traumatic group consisted of 64 shoulders with 52 males, 7 females and the mean age of 24.3 years. Female in minor injury group was significantly more than that in traumatic group. There was no difference in general joint laxity and intraarticular findings between two groups. Range of external rotation in injured side in minor injury group was significantly more than that in traumatic group. Inferior laxity in both sides in minor injury group was more than that in traumatic group. In conclusion, the traumatic anterior shoulder instability due to minor injuries might incline to occur the shoulder in female and with inferior laxity of shoulder.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.361-370
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• 1999

Baby walkers have been a major cause of injuries in young children. The main purpose of this study is to identify the pattern of injuries associated with baby walker. The data ore collected from May 13 to June 15, 1998 from 438 mothers who have used or are using baby walkers for their children aged average 6 month old(range 1-33 month). It was founded that 19.2%(84 infants) of these children had walker-related accidents. The types of injuries included ‘falling down’(52.4%), ‘tiping over’(21.4%), ‘being crashed into the wall’(17.9%), and burns(1.2%). These injuries predominantly involved the head and neck region(88%). The majority of injuries were minor, and most injuries occured at home with the mother present. The most common reason to use the baby walker was to keep the infant happy and occupied. Although many parents used walker to promote walking, there was no supportive evidence that walkers helped babies learn to walk sooner. In conclusion, injuries among infants who use walkers are minor, but common. Also, baby walkers may cause a fatal min to some infants. Therefore, child safety warning label policies, anticipatory safety guidance and quality control of infant walkers are needed to prevent injuries associated with a infant walker.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.24 no.5
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• pp.406-423
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• 2023

Diagnosing bowel and mesenteric trauma poses a significant challenge to radiologists. Although these injuries are relatively rare, immediate laparotomy may be indicated when they occur. Delayed diagnosis and treatment are associated with increased morbidity and mortality; therefore, timely and accurate management is essential. Additionally, employing strategies to differentiate between major injuries requiring surgical intervention and minor injuries considered manageable via non-operative management is important. Bowel and mesenteric injuries are among the most frequently overlooked injuries on trauma abdominal computed tomography (CT), with up to 40% of confirmed surgical bowel and mesenteric injuries not reported prior to operative treatment. This high percentage of falsely negative preoperative diagnoses may be due to several factors, including the relative rarity of these injuries, subtle and non-specific appearances on CT, and limited awareness of the injuries among radiologists. To improve the awareness and diagnosis of bowel and mesenteric injuries, this article provides an overview of the injuries most often encountered, imaging evaluation, CT appearances, and diagnostic pearls and pitfalls. Enhanced diagnostic imaging awareness will improve the preoperative diagnostic yield, which will save time, money, and lives.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.19 no.2
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• pp.159-163
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• 2006

Purpose: The number of patients transported by the Helicopter Emergency Medical Service (HEMS) has increased recently. In our review of the Korean HEMS, there was no established helicopter utilization criteria or triage tool on the scene, so many patients with minor injuries were transported to tertiary care centers. The aim of this study is to evaluate the percentage of patients with minor injuries and to propose a more appropriate triage tool for predicting the need for transport to a tertiary care center. Methods: The subjects of this study were 59 trauma patients transported to Asan Medical Center (AMC) from the scene by Seoul HEMS from January 2004 to December 2005. The Triage score (TS), Injury Severity Score (ISS), and modified Canadian Triage and Acuity Scale (mCTAS) were calculated as severity scales. Patients with minor injuries were defined as those with TS=9, ISS${\leq}15$, and mCTAS${\geq}3$. We evaluated the association of TS, ISS, and mCTAS with the appropriateness of transport. Results: Many of the patients transported to tertiary medical centers were classified as having a minor injury: TS=9 group 35 cases (72.9%), ISS${\leq}15$ group 30 cases (62.5%) and mCTAS${\geq}3$ group 27 cases (56.2%). However, 56.2% (27/59) of the patients were appropriately transported according to need for admission or an operation. The more severely injured patients classified by TS, ISS, and mCTAS were more appropriately transported to a tertiary center (p<0.05). Conclusion: Many patients with minor injuries were transported to a tertiary center from the scene directly. The TS can be easily calculated by an emergency medical technician at the scene. Thus, we propose the TS as a useful triage tool for determining the necessity of transport to a tertiary center by helicopter.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.115-117
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• 2022

"Whiplash"-type injuries are commonly encountered and often cause neck pain, neck stiffness, and headaches. However, these injuries can have rare and poorly recognized complications, such as the development of a prevertebral hematoma leading to acute respiratory failure in the emergency department, followed by severe, life-threatening dysphagia and recurrent aspirations. In the patient described herein, a whiplash injury was accompanied by vocal cord paralysis and dysphonia (vagus nerve), dysgeusia (glossopharyngeal nerve, vagus nerve), and upper esophageal spasm (cricopharyngeal muscle, vagus nerve). It is unlikely that this was a complication of cervical fusion surgery. Instead, a combined stretch-induced lower cranial nerve injury, possibly on the exit of these nerves through the jugular foramen, seems to be a likely, but underappreciated mechanism occurring in rare instances of whiplash injuries.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.129-135
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• 2011

Purpose: During August 2010, a natural gas fuel cylinder on a bus exploded in downtown Seoul, injuring 20 citizens. This kind of blast injury has never been reported in Korea before. Thus, the goal of this study was to review the clinical features of these victims to help physicians manage similar cases and to understand the risk factors associated with blast injuries in everyday life. Methods: Twenty (20) victims who visited nearby emergency departments, and 3 peoples left hospital without care. Seventeen (17) victims were included in this study, and the following factors were investigated: age, sex, type of hospital, diagnosis of injury, injury mechanism, position of victim (in-bus/out of bus), classification of injury severity with START (simple triage and rapid treatment), and classification of injury according to the mechanism of the blast injury. Results: The victims included 8 males (47%), 9 females (53%). The mean age was $37.5{\pm}12$. Thirteen (13) victims were transferred to two tertiary hospitals, and 4 were transferred to two secondary hospitals. The types of injury were 3 fractures, 2 ligaments injuries, 6 contusions, 4 abrasions, and 3 open wounds (one of them was combined fracture). According to START classification, 17 victims were 1 immediate, 11 minor, 5 delayed, and no death. Classifications according to the mechanism of the blast injury were 1 primary injury, 6 secondary injuries (2 of them combined other mechanism), 3 tertiary injuries and 9 quaternary injuries. Conclusion: Trauma care physicians should be familiar with not only the specific types of injuries from blast accidents, but also the potential accidents that may occur in public facilities.

• Safety and Health at Work
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• v.10 no.2
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• pp.180-187
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• 2019

Background: There is considerable evidence that leadership influences workplace safety, but less is known about the relative importance of different leadership styles for safety. In addition, a leadership style characterized by an emphasis and a focus on promoting safety has rarely been investigated alongside other more general leadership styles. Methods: Data were collected through a survey to which 269 employees in a paper mill company responded. A regression analysis was conducted to examine the relative roles of transformational, transactional (management-by-exception active; MBEA), and safety-specific leadership for different safety behavioral outcomes (compliance behavior and safety initiative behaviors) and for minor and major injuries. Results: A safety-specific leadership contributed the most to the enhanced safety of the three different kinds of leadership. Transformational leadership did not contribute to any safety outcome over and above that of a safety-specific leadership, whereas a transactional leadership (MBEA) was associated with negative safety outcomes (fewer safety initiatives and increased minor injuries). Conclusion: The most important thing for leaders aiming at improving workplace safety is to continuously emphasize safety, both in their communication and by acting as role models. This highlights the importance for leadership training programs aiming to improve safety to actually focus on safety-promoting communication and behaviors rather than general leadership. Furthermore, an overly monitoring and controlling leadership style can be detrimental to attempts at achieving improved workplace safety.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.25 no.4
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• pp.223-229
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• 2012

Purpose: The arterial base deficit and the serum lactate level are widely recognized indicators of injury severity, adequacy of resuscitation and outcome. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the usefulness of the arterial base deficit as an injury-severity indicator in multiple-trauma patients with head injuries. Methods: Data were retrospectively collected from trauma patients over 18 years of age who had been admitted at the emergency center between October 2005 and July 2006. The patients were divided into head-injury and non-head-injury groups. These patients were then sub-divided into minor ($$ISS{\leq_-}15$$)-injury and major ($$ISS{\geq_-}16$$)-injury groups according to their injury severity scores (ISS). We analyzed the differences in the base deficits and the serum lactate levels between the major- and the minor-injury sub-groups in both the head-injury and the non-head-injury groups. Results: In the non-head-injury group, we found statistically significant differences in the arterial base deficit between the major-injury and the minor-injury sub-groups($-6.86{\pm}2.40mmol/L$ vs. $-1.37{\pm}0.73mmol/L$, p=0.010). In the head-injury group, no significant differences were noted between the two sub-groups($-2.50{\pm}1.28mmol/L$ vs. $-1.51{\pm}0.74mmol/L$, p=0.897). Moreover, the differences in arterial base deficit between the major-injury and the minor-injury sub-groups were not significant both for either single-head-trauma or multiple-head-trauma patients (p=0.643 vs. p=0.832). Conclusion: We conclude that neither the arterial base deficit nor the serum lactate level can be used to predict injury severity in multiple-trauma patients with head injuries.

• International Journal of Highway Engineering
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• v.17 no.3
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• pp.117-124
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• 2015

PURPOSES : The purpose of this study is to verify traffic accident injury severity factors for elderly drivers and the relative relationship of these factors. METHODS : To verify the complicated relationship among traffic accident injury severity factors, this study employed a structural equation model (SEM). To develop the SEM structure, only the severity of human injuries was considered; moreover, the observed variables were selected through confirmatory factor analysis (CFA). The number of fatalities, serious injuries, moderate injuries, and minor injuries were selected for observed variables of severity. For latent variables, the accident situation, environment, and vehicle and driver factors were respectively defined. Seven observed variables were selected among the latent variables. RESULTS : This study showed that the vehicle and driver factor was the most influential factor for accident severity among the latent factors. For the observed variable, the type of vehicle, type of accident, and status of day or night for each latent variable were the most relative observed variables for the accident severity factor. To verify the validity of the SEM, several model fitting methods, including ${\chi}^2/df$, GFI, AGFI, CFI, and others, were applied, and the model produced meaningful results. CONCLUSIONS : Based on an analysis of results of traffic accident injury severity for elderly drivers, the vehicle and driver factor was the most influential one for injury severity. Therefore, education tailored to elderly drivers is needed to improve driving behavior of elderly driver.