• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.144-147
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• 2015

Recently, percutaneous epidural neuroplasty has become widely used to treat radicular pain caused by spinal stenosis or a herniated intervertebral disc. A 19-year-old female patient suffering from left radicular pain caused by an L4-L5 intervertebral disc herniation underwent percutaneous epidural neuroplasty of the left L5 nerve root using a Racz catheter. After the procedure, the patient complained of acute motor weakness in the right lower leg, on the opposite site to where the neuroplasty was conducted. Emergency surgery was performed, and swelling of the right L5 nerve root was discovered. The patient recovered her motor and sensory functions immediately after the surgery. Theoretically, the injection of a large volume of fluid in a patient with severe spinal stenosis during epidural neuroplasty can increase the pressure on the opposite side of the epidural space, which may cause injury of the opposite nerve by barotrauma from a closed compartment. Practitioners should be aware of this potential complication.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.275-279
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• 2015

Facet joint synovial cysts are usually associated with osteoarthritis of the adjacent facet joint and/or spondylolisthesis. In between the conservative and operative ends of the treatment spectrum lie minimally invasive techniques such as cyst rupture using epiduroscopy. In this report, we describe an 82-year-old male patient presenting with low back pain radiating to his lower left extremity and associated paresthesia. Magnetic resonance imaging of the lumbar spine revealed a synovial cyst at left L4/5 facet joint. Using epiduroscopy, the cyst was mechanically ruptured by popping it with the tip of the scope. The patient remained symptom-free at his successive visits until 12 months after the procedure, and was opened for desired follow up.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.205-207
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• 2008

Purpose: Although muscle hernia has been well described in the lower-extremity, muscle hernias in the upper extremity are extremely rare. As with lower extremity muscle hernias, the forearm muscle hernia may result from forced exertion of strenuous activity or following blunt trauma. The objective of this paper is to report an extraordinary case of forearm muscle hernia after radial forearm sensory tendocutaneous free flap with references. Methods: A 58-year-old male patient received wide excision and radical neck dissection and lower lip reconstruction with radial forearm sensory tendocutaneous free flap for squamous cell cancer on the lower lip. 16 weeks after the operation, he complained of protruding mass on the forearm and the size was increasing. In postoperative 18 weeks, MRI showed herniation of flexor digitorum superficialis. For unaesthetic cause and preventing progress, the authors performed direct fascial closure and Mesh graft. Results: In 12 months after the surgery there was no recurrence and the patient remained symptom-free. Conclusion: Pain on extremity exertion and unaesthetic buldge of forearm due to forearm muscle hernia were the primary indications for surgery which consist of direct closure, fasciotomy, fascia lata onlay graft, fascia lata inlay graft, etc. The authors experienced uncommon forearm muscle hernia after radial forearm free flap and satisfying result of treatment.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.12 no.4
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• pp.147-158
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• 2017

PURPOSE: Balance exercise as well as lower extremity strengthening exercise (LESE) is known to be effective in patients with knee osteoarthritis (KOA). The purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of performing LESE in conjunction with balance exercise on lower extremity function, range of motion, muscle strength, and balance in patients with KOA. METHODS: The subjects of this study were 25 patients with KOA who were recruited and randomly divided into two groups: 1) those who performed LESE with balance exercise; and 2) those who performed only LESE. Both the groups also received general physical therapy and performed aerobic exercise. The interventions were performed 3 times a week for 4 weeks. To determine the effectiveness of the interventions, we measured Western Ontario and MacMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC) score, numerical rating scale (NRS) score, passive range of motion (PROM), chair stand test (CST), and Berg Balance Scale (BBS) score at the initiation of the interventions and again after 4 weeks, at the time of completion of the interventions. RESULTS: After 4 weeks of the interventions, both the groups showed significantly improved WOMAC (p<.01), NRS (p<.01), PROM (p<.05), CST (p<.05), and BBS (p<.01) scores. However, there was no significant difference between the groups in terms of the clinical outcomes observed. CONCLUSION: These results suggest that the addition of balance exercise to a LESE regimen in patients with KOA did not provide any additional benefit.

• Asian Spine Journal
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• v.12 no.6
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• pp.1043-1052
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• 2018

Study Design: Level III retrospective cross-sectional study. Purpose: To define and characterize the presentation, symptom duration, and patient/surgical risk factors associated with 'post-decompressive neuropathy (PDN).' Overview of Literature: PDN is characterized by lower extremity radicular pain that is 'different' from pre-surgical radiculopathy or claudication pain. Although it is a common constellation of postoperative symptoms, PDN is incompletely characterized and poorly understood. We hypothesize that PDN is caused by an intraoperative neuropraxic event and may develop early (within 30 days following the procedure) or late (after 30 days following the procedure) within the postoperative period. Methods: Patients who consented to undergo lumbar laminectomy with or without an instrumented fusion for degenerative lumbar spine disease were followed up prospectively from July 2013 to December 2014. Relevant data were extracted from the charts of the eligible patients. Patient demographics and surgical factors were identified. Patients completed postoperative questionnaires 3 weeks, 3 months, 6 months, and 1 year postoperatively. Questions were designed to characterize the postoperative pain that differed from preoperative pain. A diagnosis of PDN was established if the patient exhibited the following characteristics: pain different from preoperative pain, leg pain worse than back pain, a non-dermatomal pain pattern, and nocturnal pain that often disrupted sleep. A Visual Analog Scale was used to monitor the pain, and patients documented the effectiveness of the prescribed pain management modalities. Patients for whom more than one follow-up survey was missed were excluded from analysis. Results: Of the 164 eligible patients, 118 (72.0%) completed at least one follow-up survey at each time interval. Of these eligible patients, 91 (77.1%) described symptoms consistent with PDN. Additionally, 75 patients (82.4%) described early-onset symptoms, whereas 16 reported symptoms consistent with late-onset PDN. Significantly more female patients reported PDN symptoms (87% vs. 69%, p=0.03). Patients with both early and late development of PDN described their leg pain as an intermittent, constant, burning, sharp/stabbing, or dull ache. Early PDN was categorized more commonly as a dull ache than late-onset PDN (60% vs. 31%, p=0.052); however, the difference did not reach statistical significance. Opioids were significantly more effective for patients with early-onset PDN than for those with late-onset PDN (85% vs. 44%, p=0.001). Gabapentin was most commonly prescribed to patients who cited no resolution of symptoms (70% vs. 31%, p=0.003). Time to symptom resolution ranged from within 1 month to 1 year. Patients' symptoms were considered unresolved if symptoms persisted for more than 1 year postoperatively. In total, 81% of the patients with early-onset PDN reported complete symptom resolution 1 year postoperatively compared with 63% of patients with late-onset PDN (p=0.11). Conclusions: PDN is a discrete postoperative pain phenomenon that occurred in 77% of the patients who underwent lumbar laminectomy with or without instrumented fusion. Attention must be paid to the constellation and natural history of symptoms unique to PDN to effectively manage a self-limiting postoperative issue.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.154-156
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• 2005

We present a case of chondroblastoma in the thoracic vertebra. A 40-year-old patient with upper back pain and lower extremity weakness was admitted to our clinic. On neurological examination, the patient exhibited lower extremity spastic paraparesis. Magnetic resonance imaging revealed a mass infiltrating the 7th thoracic vertebra and its adjacent structures with concomitant compression of the epidural space. After right upper lung tuberculoma was resected through the transthoracic approach, T7 total corpectomy was done with anterior stabilization using a MESH cage and T7 rib bone graft. Two weeks after the first operation, remained part of vertebra was removed and posterior stabilization was performed using a pedicle screw fixation and cross linkage bar with the assistance of the navigation system. The final pathologic diagnosis of the vertebral lesion was benign chondroblastoma.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.274-279
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• 1995

To evaluate clinical pattern and operative outcome of atherosclerotic obstructive disease in the lower extremity, surgical experience in 25 patients between September 1987 and June 1994 was analyzed. There were 24 male patients and 1 female patient. The age of the patients ranged between 36 and 77 years[mean:60.9 years . Disabing intermittent claudication, rest pain, or ischemic gangrene[or ulceration was the operative indication. The patients were classified into three groups according to the level of obstruction: Aortoiliac level[11 cases/44% , femoropopliteal level[6 cases/24% , and whole level[8 cases/32% . Anatomic bypass with prosthetic graft was performed in all cases: aortobifemoral or aortofemoral bypass in 15 procedures, iliofemoral bypass in 5 procedures, femoropopliteal bypass in 13 procedures. The perioperative mortality rate was 12%. Two patients received postoperative major amputation. Twenty two patients were followed-up for 1 to 70 months[mean: 21 months . Late graft obstruction occurred in two patients. The cumulative patency rate at 3 years was 69.5%. The cumulative limb salvage rate at 3 years was 92.0%.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.58 no.1
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• pp.65-71
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• 2015

Objective : Lumbar spinal stenosis is conventionally treated with surgical decompression. However, bilateral decompression and laminectomy is more invasive and may not be necessary for lumbar stenosis patients with unilateral radiculopathy. We aimed to report the outcomes of unilateral laminectomy and bilateral pedicle screw fixation with fusion for patients with lumbar spinal stenosis and unilateral radiculopathy. Methods : Patients with lumbar spinal stenosis with unilateral lower extremity radiculopathy who received limited unilateral decompression and bilateral pedicle screw fixation were included and evaluated using visual analog scale (VAS) pain and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) scores preoperatively and at follow-up visits. Ligamentum flavum thickness of the involved segments was measured on axial magnetic resonance images. Results : Twenty-five patients were included. The mean preoperative VAS score was $6.6{\pm}1.6$ and $4.6{\pm}3.1$ for leg and back pain, respectively. Ligamentum flavum thickness was comparable between the symptomatic and asymptomatic side (p=0.554). The mean follow-up duration was 29.2 months. The pain in the symptomatic side lower extremity (VAS score, $1.32{\pm}1.2$) and the back (VAS score, $1.75{\pm}1.73$) significantly improved (p=0.000 vs. baseline for both). The ODI improved significantly postoperatively ($6.60{\pm}6.5$; p=0.000 vs. baseline). Significant improvement in VAS pain and ODI scores were observed in patients receiving single or multi-segment decompression fusion with fixation (p<0.01). Conclusion : Limited laminectomy and unilateral spinal decompression followed by bilateral pedicle screw fixation with fusion achieves satisfactory outcomes in patients with spinal stenosis and unilateral radiculopathy. This procedure is less damaging to structures that are important for maintaining posterior stability of the spine.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.28 no.2
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• pp.75-87
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• 2015

Background: Lumbar discogenic pain without pain mediated by a disc herniation, facet joints, or the sacroiliac joints, is common and often results in chronic, persistent pain and disability. After conservative treatment failure, injection therapy, such as an epidural injection, is frequently the next step considered in managing discogenic pain. The objective of this systematic review is to determine the efficacy of lumbar epidural injections in managing discogenic pain without radiculopathy, and compare this approach to lumbar fusion or disc arthroplasty surgery. Methods: A systematic review of randomized trials published from 1966 through October 2014 of all types of epidural injections and lumbar fusion or disc arthroplasty in managing lumbar discogenic pain was performed with methodological quality assessment and grading of evidence. The level of evidence was based on the grading of evidence criteria which, was conducted using 5 levels of evidence ranging from levels I to V. Results: Based on a qualitative assessment of the evidence for both approaches, there is Level II evidence for epidural injections, either caudal or lumbar interlaminar. Conclusions: The available evidence suggests fluoroscopically directed epidural injections provide long-term improvement in back and lower extremity pain for patients with lumbar discogenic pain. There is also limited evidence showing the potential effectiveness of surgical interventions compared to nonsurgical treatments.

• The Journal of Korean Academy of Orthopedic Manual Physical Therapy
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• v.5 no.1
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• pp.59-74
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• 1999

66 patients with low back pain were evaluated to determine if any differences of weight bearing were existed between the same side leg that feel pain(pain side leg) and that without pain (non-pain side leg) of lower extremities while weight bearing. 66 patients were divided into 3 groups according to pain pattern such as low back pain only(26), radiating pain only(21) and low back pain with radiating pain (19). Control group were 28 normal persons. The weight bearing was rated by Limloader(Model LLD-2000, Ver 1.2) and analyzed by paired and independent t-test, one-way ANOVA, Dunan's analaysis and Pearson's correlation analysis. The results of this study were as follows : 1. In patient group, significant difference of weight bearing rating between pain side leg and non-pain side leg was found. There was borne significantly less weight bearing rating(14.68%) on the pain side leg(P<.001). 2. In normal group, there was no significant difference between left and right leg(P>.05). But there was significant difference(3.21%) in absolute difference of both leg(p<.001). 3. The difference of 1 and 2 was 11.47% : more difference of weight bearing rating between both legs in patient group than that of the control group(p<.001). 4. There were significant differences of weight bearing rating in those 3 groups : low back pain group(10.30%), radiating pain group (17.90%) and low back pain with radiating pain group (17.10%) (p<.001). 5. There was significant correlation between pain intensity and difference of weight bearing rating(p<.05). The severer pain intensity. the more difference of weight bearing rating was found. 6. There was no significant correlation between the age, height and duration of symptom, etc(p>.05).