• Title/Summary/Keyword: Pain Control

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Current Status and the Future Prospect of Rehabilitation Nursing in Korea (한국 재활간호 현황과 전망)

  • Kang, Hyun-Sook;Suh, Yeon-Ok;Lee, Hae-Sook
    • The Korean Journal of Rehabilitation Nursing
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    • v.4 no.2
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    • pp.240-247
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    • 2001
  • The history of rehabilitation of disabilities in Korea began with the foreigners and missionaries who were interested in it after Korean War. In 1981, Disabled Persons Welfare Act was enacted and the 88 Paralympics brought the nations attention to the welfare and rehabilitation of persons with disabilities. Since then, the facilities and the services for the disabled persons have expanded rapidly and the rehabilitation treatment and nursing intervention are drawing more attention. Against this background, the survey on the current status of disabilities, welfare service, facilities, and rehabilitation nursing was conducted. The results of this survey are as follows. 1. According to the 2000 census of disabilities, the number of persons with disabilities in Korea is estimated at 1,449,500, or 3.09% of the entire Korean population, 0.74% up from 2.35% in 1995. 2. Disability Types in 2000 The 2000 census showed that the persons with disabilities numbered 1,449,496 out of the total population and 1,024,371 persons are registered for disability, making up 70.7% of the estimated disabled population. Among them, physically disabled persons accounted for the largest 41.7% (605,127) and mentally retarded persons stood at the smallest 9% (13,481). 3. Percentage of Disability Presence The survey showed that more than 90% of disability were acquired. However, 44.8% of mental disability and 61.4% of hearing/speaking disability were not acquired after birth. This means that these disabilities happened by congenital cause or birth accident. 4. Yearly Figure of Registered Disabled Persons In 1989, 218,601 persons registered for disability and, in 2000, the number increased by 4.7 times to 1,024,371. These figures are different from the actual number of disabled persons. According to the 1995 census, 1,053,486 were disabled persons but only 378,323registered for disability. And, in the 2000 census, 1,024,371 out of the 1,449,496 of disabled persons registered for disability. 5. Welfare Service for Persons with Disability 62.6% of the total disabled people are registered and physically disabled persons accounted for the highest percentage of 96.7%. 26.5% of non-registered disabled people said that they didnt know the registration procedure. The rest of them replied that they didnt think they were disabled or that registration didnt seem to give any benefits. 6. Welfare Policies for Disabled Persons The welfare benefits given to the disabled are as follows: Issuance of disabled sign for car drivers, Permission to use LPG fuel, Communication fee reduction, Tax exemption related to cars, Reduction of public facility fees, Household allowance, Tax reduction or exemption, Medical allowance and education subsidy for children, and Housing. 7. Current Condition of Welfare Facilities by Disability Type The welfare institutions for disabilities numbered 188 in total and they can accommodate 16,823 persons. Categories of these institutions are physical disability(37), visual disability(10), hearing/speaking disability(14), mental retardation(59), and sanatoriums(68). 8. Human Resource of Rehabilitation of Disabilities Advanced education programs include rehabilitation nursing in its curriculum and this was selected as the program of Korean Academic Society of Nursing in 1990. In November 1997, Korean Academic Society of Rehabilitation Nursing was launched and many academic meeting and seminars were held. This organization is also making efforts to develop the education program for qualified rehabilitation nursing professionals and to develop the standards of rehabilitation nursing practice. In the professionals of the rehabilitation, there are rehabilitation specialist, physical therapist, speech therapist, occupational therapist. It is needed to come up with the measures to supply stable human resources following the demand of disabled persons and to recognize the private certificates for rehabilitation professionals as official ones after reviewing the education and training programs of private institutions. 9. Rehabilitation Nursing 1) Rehabilitation nursing was taught as an independent subject in 11 undergraduate programs and 9 graduate programs. 2) Research on rehabilitation nursing in Korea were 24 experimental research and 11 non-experimental research. The intervention of experimental research were mostly education and exercise rehabilitation programs. 3) In the three rehabilitation hospitals, nursing is divided into two categories, direct nursing and education & counseling. Direct nursing includes tracheostomy or nasogastric tube care, urination and defication, skin care, pain control, complication prevention and care, prevention of injury from a fall, etc.

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Arthroscopic Decompression of Spinoglenoid Ganglion Cyst (견갑골 극관절와 결절종의 관절경하 감압술)

  • Hwang, Tae Hyok;Wang, Tae Hyun;Cho, Hyung Lae;Kim, Keun Young
    • Journal of the Korean Arthroscopy Society
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    • v.15 no.2
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    • pp.92-98
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    • 2011
  • Purpose: We describe a all-arthroscopic technique for decompression of spinoglenoid ganglion cyst and present our clinical results for this procedure. Materials and Methods: From March 2006 to June 2009, eight patients (7 males, 1 female; mean age 40.6 years; range: 21~61) were included who underwent arthroscopic decompression of spinoglenoid ganglion cyst. The most common symptoms were vague shoulder pain and external rotation weakness, which lasted 6.4 months (range: 3~8) on average. Five of eight patients were noted abnormalities on electromyographic (EMG) examination to have suprascapular nerve neuropathy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) showed spinoglenoid ganglion cysts in all eight patients and the cyst size was 2.6 cm (range: 1.8~3.6). Labral pathology was identified intraoperatively in all patients and the cysts were decompressed by the posterosuperior capsulotomy under arthroscopic control and labral repair with suture anchors was performed in six patients. Results: The average clinical outcome scores including Constant and Murley, Simple shoulder test (SST) all improved significantly at the time of the final follow-up and there were no complications resulting from the procedures. All patients including the patients with abnormal EMG study recovered strength on isokinetic strength testing. Follow-up MRI scans were performed on all patients at a mean of 5.2 months postoperatively (range: 3~12) revealed complete resolution of the cysts and no evidence of recurrences were seen at an average of 18 months (range: 12~26) of follow-up. Conclusion: Arthroscopic decompression of spinoglenoid ganglion cyst effectively restores patient function and all patients in this study showed improvement in their postoperative MRI findings. Arthroscopic decompression is also useful in the appropriate treatment for labral pathology and may contribute to decreased risk of cyst recurrence.

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Epidemiological Studies on Giardia Infection Associated with environmental Pollution (Giardia에 의한 환경오염(環境汚染)과 감염(感染)에 관한 역학적(疫學的) 연구(硏究))

  • Lee, Keun-Tae;Kim, Seok-Chan;Song, Jong-Sool;Chung, Pyung-Rim
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.9 no.1
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    • pp.56-66
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    • 1984
  • Giardia lamblia is a pathogenic flagellate causing intestinal disorders such as diarrhea, abdominal pain and malabsorption of nutrients. Giardia is mainly infected by the ingestion of contaminated foods per os. Craun (1979) has recently reported that mass infection of this flagellate through the contaminated water supply systems is one of public health hazards. Also, so-called traveller's diarrhea is sometimes caused by Giardia infection (CDC, U.S.A., 1971). However, a few epidemiological studies figuring out the mode of infection or control measures of Giardia infection has been done so far in Korea. The present study was aimed to know the prevalence of Giardia infection in several Korean populations, detectability of this flagellate in water systems and the viability of the cysts against sewages and disinfectants applying to drinking water. In the present study, 388 stool specimens from orphanage children in Chun-joo, Chung-joo, On-yang and Chun-an areas and 538 stool specimens from inhabitants in Woo-do, In-chon, and Chun-joo were examined by formalin-ether concentration technique to detect out Giardia cysts. On the other hand, water samples from 14 sites of Han River and its tributaries were collected in May through July, 1984. Fifty liter of water sample in each sampling site was then filtered through water filtering system deviced by U.S. Environmental Proutection Agency and the sediments rinsed out from the thread rolls, a part of water filtering system, were examined to detect out the Giardia cysts. In order to observe the viability of Giardia cysts in the sewage samples, the cysts were treated in it at $4^{\circ}C$ or $25^{\circ}C$ for 7 through 28 days. For this purpose, the cysts were also exposed to various concentrations of disinfectants such as chlorine, iodine and ozone gas for proper time intervals. After treatment, the viability test of the Giardia cysts were carried out by method of Rice and Schaefer (1981) with minor modification. The results obtained in this study were as follows : 1) The detection rates of G lamblia cysts in the stool specimens were 18.3% in orphans and 4.3% in general examinees. 2) The prevalences of Giardia Infection were higher in the young age groups than in-adults. The highest positive rate was 18.4% in the age group less than 10. 3) Of 14 water specimens sampled from Han River system and its tributaries around the Seoul area, the Giardia cysts were detected from 4 samples, and no cyst was found in the water supply systems. 4) The cysts treated in the sewage survived for 28 days at $4^{\circ}C$ and for 13 days at $25^{\circ}C$. 5) The cysts were completely destroyed within 60 minutes by exposure to 8 mg/l of residual chlorine at 4g and within 30 minutes by exposure to the same concentration of chlorine at $25^{\circ}C$. 6) The cysts were all dead when exposed to 1 mg/1 of iodine for 60 minutes at $4^{\circ}C$ or $25^{\circ}C$. 7) The cysts were destroyed after 10 minute exposure in 0.15 mg to 0.25mg of residual ozone gas per liter. Summarizing the above results, it is considered that Giardia infection is regarded as water-borne disease and the cysts are able to be controlled by the application with the disinfectants in the water supply systems.

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Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment for Community Living Elderly in a Rural Area (일부 농촌지역 거주 노인들에 대한 포괄적 노인평가)

  • Rhee, Jung-Ae;Shin, Hee-Young;Chung, Eun-Kyung;Shin, Jun-Ho
    • Journal of agricultural medicine and community health
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    • v.27 no.1
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    • pp.21-31
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    • 2002
  • The aim of this study was to analyse and conduct the comprehensive geriatric assessment for the elderly in rural area. The subjects were 388 older people aged 65 years or older living in the community. Data for comprehensive assessment such as physical, mental, functional, social and environmental conditions were collected from January to February, 2001 through a person-to-person interview. Of the total 388 olders, 169(43.6%) were men and 219(56.4%) were women. Mean ages of men and women were $73.5{\pm}6.4$ and $74.0{\pm}6.2$ years respectively. Three common diseases of the elderly were arthralgia(51.6%), chronic back pain(33.2%) and hypertension(18.6%), and higher in women than in men. Impairment rate of vision, hearing and bowel or bladder control was 59.0%, 20.1%, and 28.4% respectively. But that of lover extremities 3.4%. In terms of cognitive function, short term memory loss was found in 33.7% of males and 44.7% of females. The percentage of fully independent in the six ADL items was 72.2% in men and 58.9% in women. In the social supportive system, 49.5% of the elderly were living with spouse, and 22.9% living alone, 26.3% having care giver. These results will provide basic data for the development of community-based health program, which gives appropriate health service for the elderly living in the community.

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The study examined characteristics of 20 patients who visitied Kongju (비만환자(肥滿患者) 20명(名)에 대(對)한 임상적(臨床的) 연구(硏究))

  • Park, Tae Gyun;Lee, Byung Ryul
    • Journal of Haehwa Medicine
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    • v.11 no.1
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    • pp.137-149
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    • 2002
  • Dong-Eui-Bo-Gham Oriental medicine clinic on the purpose of losing their weight, from March 1, 2001 to March 1, 2002. The characteristics studied were gender, average weight, average height, distribution of body fat rate, base body metabolism rate, distribution of bmi, purpose of losing weight, treatment history, cause of gaining weight, clinical symptoms, distribution of Sahsang constitution, and change of body constituent. The conclusions drawn from this study were: 1. Among patients who came to the clinic for weight loss, there were 16 females (80%), and 4 males (20%). The ratio of gener was 1 to 4 (male to female) The distribution of their ages were 1 in one's teens (5%), 6 in their 20s (30%), 7 in their 30s (35%), and 6 in their 40s (30%). 2. The average weight of the patients was 72.155kg, and their average height was 163.2 cm. 3. The body fat rates of patients were distributed as: 2 were below 25 (10%), 3 were 25 to 30 (15%), 8 were 30 to 35 (40%), 5 were 35 to 40 (25%), and 2 were 40 to 45 (10%). 4. The base body metabolism rates of the patients were distributed as: 1 was below 1000Kcal (5%), 6 were 1100 to 1200Kcal (30%), 5 were 1200 to 1300Kcal (25%), 6 were 1300 to 1400Kcal (30%), and 2 were 1400 to 1500Kcal (10%). 5. The distribution of the patients bmi was: 4 were below 20 (20%), 5 were 20 to 25 (5%), 11 were 25 to 30 (55%), and 4 were 30 to 35 (20%). 6. The patients visited the clinic to lose their weight for the follwoing purposes: 5 were related to health concerns (25%), and 15 were to imprve their physical apprearnce (75%). Among patients who wanted to lose their weight becase of health concerns, 4 were married (20%) and 1 was single (5%). Among patiens who wanted to lose their weight to improve their physical appearance, 6 were married (30%) and 9 were single (45%). 7. As for the past treatment methods, physical exercises were most frequently used (19 patiens, 43%). 14 tried diet (32%), 8 used food substitues (19%), 1 was treated through Western medicine, and 1 was not related to any of these (2%). 8. Main reasons for weight gains were: 12 were related to overeating (40%), 10 were stress (33%), and 8 were lack of physical exercise (27%). 9. Physical symptoms included: 15 were fatigue (29%), 14 were constipation (26%), 13 were body swelling (25%), 3 were headache (5%), menstruation pain (4%), one was stomach upset (2%), 2 were related to physical structure, and 2 were related to other (4%). 10. As for the distribution of Sahsang constitution, 10 were Taeum (50%), 9 were Sohyang (45%), and 1 was Sohum (5%). 11. The average muscle weight was 44.87kg, average abdomen fat rate was 0.8999, and average base body metabolism rate was1369.2Kcal. 12. For the 5-week period, The body fat rate changes were 35.93 1.56% to 30.40 1.98% for A group, and 34.27 1.19% to 31.73 1.38% for B group. The abomen fat rate changes were 0.90 0.02% to 0.86 0.03 for A group, and 0.89 0.02% to 0.83 0.02% for B group. The body fat weight changes were 26.92 2.04kg to 20.74 1.98kg for A group, and 27.86 3.37kg to 24.58 3.02kg for B group. The body weight chages were 72.36 3.18kg to 64.54 2.55kg for A group, and 72.48 3.14kg to 67.74 3.11kg for B group. The muscle rate changes were 43.86 1.63kg to 43.10 1.76kg for A group, and 42.72 1.22kg to 41.60 1.86kg for B group. Overall, A group was superior to B group. 13. After being treated for obesity, 13 patients used exercise treatment (65%), 5 continued to receive obesity treatment (25%), and 2 used diet (10%). Based on these results, we could conclude that the importande of setting a criterion of obesity and weight control have changed according to changes in social and cultural values, and that treatment of obesity through Oriental medicine and research should keep up with changes in esthetic and psychological values.

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Problems of the Current Referral System of the Terminal Cancer Patients in Korea (말기 암 환자의 완화 의료 연계 시스템의 문제점과 개선 방안)

  • Yun, Cho-Hee;Lee, Ju-Young;Kim, Mi-Ra;Heo, Dae-Seok
    • Journal of Hospice and Palliative Care
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    • v.5 no.2
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    • pp.94-100
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    • 2002
  • Purpose : The system to refer terminally ill patients to palliative or hospice care which ultimately give them emotional, psychological, and social support hasn't been fully developed and organized yet in Korea. The controversies concerning the current referral system are being analyzed to present the improvements. Methods : The questionnaires were asked to be filled out by family members of the 76 patients by phone interview, who were referred from the Seoul National University Hospital between April, 2001 to March, 2002. They were referred to the 35 palliative and hospice care-giving institutes and hospitals which were given questionnaires by mail. Results : Of the 76 patient's family members, 47 family members accepted to answer the questionnaire. The first thing that influence to family to determine the referral of patient was solicitation of doctors or nurses (44%). And they were influenced by allowance for the other things such as convenience of patients (32%), convenience of caring family members (24%). In the course of determining of referred institutes, responders had considered at first their dwelling area, and then fame of institutes, the place which patent had wanted to spend last hours or which is suitable for patient's funeral service, and their financial condition. Thirty-eight the 47 responders answered that they had experienced difficulties in referral procedure. The worst among difficulties was unwanted discharge, and followings were lack of information about the referred institutes, concern about patient's suffering, resistance of patient and opposition of other family members, etc. Although they expressed dissatisfaction in referral procedure, most of them answered they had been satisfied with hospice care at referred institute after referral. Merits of referral which responders counted were patient's peace, caring family's comfort and reduced cost in order. Of the 35 referred institutes, 24 institutes' staffs responded mail questionnaires and sent to us in return. Except one responder, the rest approved the referral system and thought that referred patients had been satisfied with their hospice care. And they claimed that systemic support of the government is definitely necessary. The most difficult thing which responders experienced in care of referred patients was lack of information about patients. Besides, there were patient's financial problems, lack of understanding about their institutes of patients or family, and inconvenience of terminal cancer patient's pain control. Conclusion : The development and support of the organized referral system is needed to alleviate the troubles which patients, family members, and palliative or hospice institutes and hospitals have to face through the procedure of the referral.

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Radiation Exposure Dose Reduction on Upper Gastrointestinal Series (위장조영검사에서 피폭선량 저감)

  • Lim, Byung-Hak;Chon, Kwon Su
    • Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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    • v.11 no.2
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    • pp.109-116
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    • 2017
  • Upper gastrointestinal series is non-invasive examination, and it is useful for patients or elderly patients who have difficulty in endoscopic examination because of absence of any side effects other than temporary constipation or abdominal pain. The entire image of the gastrointestinal tract can be seen and have been widely used in the diagnosis of upper gastrointestinal diseases. However, there is a possibility that radiation dose increases due to improper movement and breath control, when examination is carried out by lack of understanding the overall inspection process for the upper gastrointestinal series. In upper gastrointestinal series to increase understanding of examination, to induce appropriate cooperation during examination, to reduce the number of retakes and shorten examination time, and to reduce dose of the subject, the procedure and precautions of the gastrointestinal test were made as a movie. We investigated the effectiveness of pre-education using the movie to reduce the inspection time, the number of re-shoots, and the reduction of exposure dose by watching the movie during the waiting time before examination. 120 patients that were selected each 20 patients aged from 30s to 80s were evaluated were evaluated for exposure dose, examination time, and the number of retakes before and after the movie training. The radiation dose, the examination time, and the number of retakes were respectively $3171.83{\mu}Gy{\cdot}m^2$ and $2931.73{\mu}Gy{\cdot}m^2$, 8.05 min, and 6.75 min, and 1.68 times and 1.22 times before and after movie training. It can be concluded that the movie training on the gastrointestinal examination influences the reduction of the examination time, the number of retakes and the reduction of the radiation dose.

The Change of Vascular Reactivity in Rat Thoracic Aorta 3 Days after Acute Myocardial Infarction (흰쥐에서 급성심근경색 3일 후 흉부 대동맥 혈관 반응성의 변화)

  • Lee, Sub;Roh, Woon-Seok;Jang, Jae-Seok;Bae, Chi-Hoon;Park, Ki-Sung;Lee, Jong-Tae
    • Journal of Chest Surgery
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    • v.42 no.5
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    • pp.576-587
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    • 2009
  • Background: The up-regulation of the nitric oxide (NO)-cGMP pathway might be involved in the change of vascular reactivity in rats 3 days after they suffer acute myocardial infarction. However, the underlying mechanism for this has not been clarified. Material and Method: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was induced by occluding the left anterior descending coronary artery (LAD) for 30 min (Group AMI), whereas the sham-operated control rats were treated similarly without LAD occlusion (Group SHAM), The concentration-response relationships for phenylephrine (PE), KCl, acetylcholine (Ach) and sodium nitroprusside (SNP) were determined in the endothelium intact E(+) and endothelium denuded E(-) thoracic aortic rings from the rats 3 days after AMI or a SHAM operation. The concentration-response relationships of PE in the E(+) rings from the AMI rats were compared with those relationships in the rings pretreated with nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibitor $N{\omega}$-nitro-L-arginine methyl ester (L-NAME) or the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin. The plasma nitrite/nitrate concentrations were checked via a Griess reaction. The cyclic GMP content in the thoracic aortic rings was measured by radioimmunoassay and the endothelial nitric oxide synthase (eNOS) mRNA expression was assessed by real time PCR. Result: The mean infarct size (%) in the rats with AMI was $21.3{\pm}0.62%$. The heart rate and the systolic and diastolic blood pressure were not significantly changed in the AMI rats. The sensitivity of the contractile response to PE and KCl was significantly decreased in both the E(+) and E(-) aortic rings of the AMI group (p<0.05). L-NAME completely reversed these contractile responses whereas indomethacin did not (p<0.05). Moreover, the sensitivity of the relaxation response to Ach was also significantly decreased in the AMI group (p<0.05). The plasma nitrite and nitrate content (p<0.05), the basal cGMP content (p<0.05) and the eNOS mRNA expression (p=0.056) in the AMI rats were increased as compared with the SHAM group. Conclusion: Our findings indicate that the increased eNOS activity and the up-regulation of the NO-cGMP pathway can be attributed to the decreased contractile or relaxation response in the rat thoracic aorta 3 days after AMI.

Trend (in 2005) of Repair of Inguinal Hernia in Children in Korea - A National Survey by the Korean Association of Pediatric Surgeons in 2005 - (2005년도 소아 서혜부 탈장치료 경향)

  • Kim, Seong-Min;Kim, Dae-Yeon;Kim, Sang-Yoon;Kim, Seong-Chul;Kim, Woo-Ki;Kim, Jae-Eok;Kim, Jae-Chun;Park, Kwi-Won;Seo, Jeong-Meen;Song, Young-Tack;Oh, Jung-Tak;Lee, Nam-Hyuk;Lee, Doo-Sun;Chun, Yong-Soon;Chung, Sang-Young;Chung, Eul-Sam;Choi, Kum-Ja;Choi, Soon-Ok;Han, Seok-Joo;Huh, Young-Soo;Hong, Jeong;Choi, Seung-Hoon
    • Advances in pediatric surgery
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    • v.12 no.2
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    • pp.155-166
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    • 2006
  • Inguinal hernia is the most common disease treated by the pediatric surgeon. There are several controversial aspects of management 1)the optimal timing of surgical repair, especially for preterm babies, 2)contralateral groin exploration during repair of a clinically unilateral hernia, 3)use of laparoscope in contralateral groin exploration, 4)timing of surgical repair of cord hydrocele, 5)perioperative pain control, 6)perioperative management of anemia. In this survey, we attempted to determine the approach of members of KAPS to these aspects of hernia treatment. A questionnaire by e-mail or FAX was sent to all members. The content of the questionnaire were adapted from the "American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Section on Surgery hernia survey revisited (J Pediatr Surg 40, 1009-1014, 2005)". For full-term male baby, most surgeons (85.7 %) perform an elective operation as soon as diagnosis was made. For reducible hernia found in ex-preterm infants already discharged from the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), 76.2 % of surgeons performed an elective repair under general anesthesia (85.8 %). 42.9 % of the surgeons performed the repair just before discharge. For same-day surgery for the ex-premature baby, the opinion was evenly divided. For an inguinal hernia with a contralateral undescended testis in a preterm baby, 61.9 % of surgeons choose to 'wait and see' until 12 month of age. The most important consideration in deciding the timing of surgery of inguinal hernia in preterm baby was the existence of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (82.4 %), episode of apnea/bradycardia on home monitoring (70.6 %). Most surgeons do not explore the contralateral groin during unilateral hernia repair. Laparoscope has not been tried. Most surgeons do not give perioperative analgesics or blood transfusion.

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Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Activity in Patients Affected with Rett Syndrome (Rett 증후군 환자에서의 자율신경 활성도 및 심박수 변이도 측정)

  • Choi, Deok Young;Chang, Jin Ha;Chung, Hee Jung
    • Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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    • v.46 no.10
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    • pp.996-1002
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    • 2003
  • Purpose : In Rett syndrome patients, the incidence of sudden death is greater than that of the general population, and cardiac electrical instability including fatal cardiac arrhythmia is a main suspected cause. In this study, we are going to find out the possible cause of the higher risk of sudden death in Rett patients by the evaluation of heart rate variability, a marker of cardiac autonomic activity and corrected QT intervals. Methods : Diagnosis of Rett syndrome was made by molecular genetic study of Rett syndrome (MECP2 gene) or clinical diagnostic criteria of Rett syndrome. Heart rate variability and corrected QT intervals were measured by 24 h-Holter study in 12 Rett patients, and in 30 age-matched healthy children with chief complaints of chest pain or suspected heart murmurs. The were compared with the normal age-matched control. Results : Patients with total Rett syndrome, classic Rett syndrome, and Rett variants had significantly lower heart rate variability(especially rMSSD)(P<0.05) and longer corrected QT intervals than age-matched healthy children(P<0.05). Sympathovagal balance expressed by the ratio of high to low frequency(LF/HF ratio) also showed statistically significant differences between the three groups considered(P<0.05). Conclusion : A significant reduction of heart rate variability, a marker of autonomic disarray, suggests a possible explanation of cardiac dysfunction in sudden death associated with Rett syndrome.