• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.27 no.4
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• pp.328-330
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• 1994

Brachial plexus injury developing after axillary thoracotomy is an uncommon complication. But if it occurs, it may cause annoying events. We recently experienced 2 patients who developed brachial plexus injury after wedge resection by axillary thoracotomy . The first patient was a 22 year-old man with right spontaneous pneumothorax . After wedge resection of the right upper lung by axillary thoracotomy, he complained total paralysis of the right arm. An electromyogram was obtained at 7 days after operation, with the confirmation of brachial plexus injury. He was discharged at 22days after operation and brachial plexus injury was completely recovered 4 months after discharge. The second patient was a 17 year-old man with recurrent right pneumothorax. He underwent wedge resection of the right upper lung by axillary thoracotomy. Electromyogram confirmed the diagnosis of brachial plexus injury in the immediate postoperative period. He was discharged at 15 days after operation and brachial plexus injury was recovered 2months after discharge.Brachial plexus injury after axillary thoracotomy is caused by stretching around the clavicle and tendon of pectoralis minor by fixation of the abducted arm to the frame. Thus, when we perform wedge resection by axillary thoracotomy, we must avoid over-stretching of the brachial plexus in positioning. If brachial plexus injury develops, immediate attention and management with close rapport are important to avoid possible medicolegal problems.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.36 no.5
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• pp.670-673
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• 2009

Purpose: Epidural abscesses and subdural empyemas after craniotomy are uncommon, potentially lethal, complications of neurosurgery. Patients with these complications may be difficult to manage and dural reconstruction in these patients are challenging. Methods: A 28 - year - old female patient showed recurrent intracranial infection after craniotomy for evacuation of a arachnoid cyst and subdural hematoma. Despite prolonged systemic antibiotic administration and a debridement of the subdural space, infection persisted, as evidenced by persistent fever, an elevated WBC count, CSF leakage, low CSF glucose level, and purulent wound discharge. The authors removed the previously applied lyophilized dura and transferred free omental flap to reconstruct the dura, obliterate the cyst and cover the cerebral hemisphere in the craniotomy defect. Microvascular anastomosis was between gastroepiploic and superficial temporal vessels. Results: The postoperative course was uneventful and flap survival was excellent. The infection - resistant omental tissue allowed sufficient blood circulation and dead space control. The patient was discharged 1 month after surgery and wound discharge or recurrence was absent during 13 months of follow up periods. Conclusion: The use of vascularized free omentum proved useful in cases of intractable cranial wound infection and cerebrospinal fluid leakages.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Fundamentals of Nursing
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.50-67
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• 1996

Home nursing interventions based on nursing diagnosis were implemented to the patient who are discharged from one hospital often the treatment for chronic neuromuscular system problem, and its effects were studied. The purpose of this study was to find out the effectiveness of hospital bouned home nursing provided by hospital nurses and to categorize home nursing diagnosis and its interventions. Data from experimental group patients were collected at three different time ; at the time of discharge, two weeks after discharge and our weeks after discharge. Data from controll group patients were collected twice ; the first one at the time of discharge, and the other one four weeks after discharge. For this study nursing assessment and intervention booklet developed by the research team. There were no significant decrease of the number of nursing problems and life satis-faction. But daily activity level of patients showed the signs of significant improvement at the time of four weeks after discharge. Results of this study indicates that home nursing intervention based on nursing diagnosis provided the patients with noticeable difference in health maintanance, impairment of physical mobility, potential for infection, impaired home marntenance management, health seeking behavior, chronic pain, disuse syndrome, impaired skin integrity.

• Korean Journal of Adult Nursing
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.246-255
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• 2017

Purpose: This study was designed to identify factors affecting depression among hospitalized older adults prior to discharge from an acute care hospital. Methods: This descriptive study included adults aged 65 or older who were hospitalized in a general hospital in Seoul, Korea. Depression was measured by the Short Form Geriatric Depression Scale and illness perception was evaluated by the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire. Social support was examined using the Perceived Geriatric Social Support Scale. Data were collected from August 25 to October 12, 2015. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, independent t-test, Kruskal-Wallis test, Pearson's correlation coefficient, and hierarchical multiple regression. Results: Among a total of 120 participants, 57 patients (47.5%) experienced depression. Mean depression score was $7.37{\pm}3.67$. Depression was associated with illness perception (r=.53, p<.001), social support (r=-.19, p=.043), number of admission due to the recurrence (r=.31, p=.001), and time to recognize discharge plan (r=.25, p=.044). In hierarchical multiple regression, illness perception (${\beta}=.45$, p<.001) and time to recognize discharge plan (${\beta}=.21$, p=.039) were predictors of depression (F=7.68, p<.001, Adjusted $R^2=.38$). Conclusion: The findings of this study suggest that management of illness perception and timely notice of discharge are important to reduce depression in hospitalized elderly patients.

• The Journal of Korean Academic Society of Nursing Education
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• v.4 no.1
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• pp.66-80
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• 1998

With the opening of healthcare market, the health care environment in Korea is anticipating a drastic change. In this Internationally open market environment, it is necessary to introduce a systematic health care plan and DRG system which offer qualitative medical services as well as reduced cost. Purpose of this study is to develop and test the critical pathway for Cesarean section patient in the way to be possible the integrated inpatient management. It was adopted the process of six phases to develop the critical pathway as the theoretical framework implemented by Johns Hopkins Hospital, Maryland, U.S.A. In the first phase, make a selection of diagnosis/procedures to develop. In the second phase, organize a development team consisted of eight expertises working in maternity nursing area. In the third phase, analyze the overall medical service offered to patient through review medical records and decided the service content and the implementation period for the Cesarean section patient. In the forth phase, make out a preliminary critical pathway after verification of expert group on content validity. In the fifth phase, validity operate to ten Cesarean section patients to test implementation in practice by using the preliminary critical pathway, In the sixth phase, defined the final critical pathway. The result of this study was as follows. 1. There were classified 8 categories as monitoring/assesment, treatment, medication, activity, diet, test, consult, education/discharge plan for vertical axis and showed hospital stayed from admission to discharge for horizontal axis of critical pathway through analysis 68 Cesarean section patients medical records. 2. After critical review 68 medical records to make out a preliminary critical pathway, hospital stays for horizontal axis were showed 6 days, mean hospital stays were 7.5 days, 2.1 days were to be taken operation after admission and 4.2 days were stayed until discharge after operation. 3. After making out a questionare in 90 items of a medical service content of eight categories and verifying the content validity of expertises, the 85 items of the preliminary critical pathway were selected by expertises agreement over 88% and modified or deleted 5 items showing agreement below 75%. 4. After verifying a validity to 10 patients for 4 weeks, hospital stays were 5.9 days. There were deleted 1 item and modified or supplemented the 9 items of the 10 items.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.22 no.4
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• pp.464-475
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• 1992

Head Injuries due to traffic accidents are now the leading cause of death and long term disability in males between 30-50 years. Many patients with head injuries experience mild dysfunction of cognition without major neurosurgical problems, and this may interfere with successful rehabilitation. However, not many studies have been done to investigate the cognitive functioning following mild head injuries. The purpose of this study was to obtain injured patient's dermographic data including medical, neuropsychological and social data, and to investigate the cause of injury and alcohol use at the time of injury. This study focused on the recovery of cognitive function in patients with head injuries and used the Mini Mental State Examination(MMSE) score and its correlation with dermographic and social data. Data on 77 patients with minor head injuries who were admitted to the department of Neurosurgery in 3 and I hospital in Dae Jun from September 1991 to February 1992 were analyzed. The findings of this study are as follows ; 1) Out of the 77 cases reviewed in this study, 62 were male, 15 were female. 2) A higher incidence of injury was observed between 7:00 PM and 12:00 PM. 3) The most common cause of head injury in traffic accidents was pedestrian accidents, and the next most frequent cause was motorcycle accidents. 4) Thirteen of the 77 cases in this study were under the influence of alcohol at the time of injury, and they were all male. 5) The MMSE scores one month after injury and at discharge were significantly lower in patients with head injuries that included skull fractures than in patients without skull fractures, suggesting lower cognitive function in patients with skull fractures. 6) The level of consciousness at admission and three days after admission measured by the GCS for drivers under the influence of alcohol was lower than for sober drivers. The MMSE score was also lower for drunken drivers. 7) The MMSE score one month after the injury had a reciprocal relationship with the age of the patient. 8) The MMSE score one month after the injury and at discharge were highly correlated with the duration of unconsciousness. 9) The MMSE score one month after injury and at discharge were highly correlated with the GCS scores at admission, three days after admission, and one week after admission.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.57 no.1
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• pp.78-81
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• 2004

A 73-year-old man who had undergone a right pneumonectomy and open window thoracostomy due to tuberculous empyema, presented with purulent discharge from the previous operation site. The computed tomography of the chest showed diffuse pleural thickening and a low attenuated lesion, with air bubbles in a dependent portion of the right hemithorax. These air bubbles were revealed to be due to 7 pieces of retained surgical gauze by flexible bronchoscopy. The patient showed marked clinical improvement with diminished purulent discharge after removal of the foreign bodies.

• Journal of Korean Biological Nursing Science
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.262-271
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• 2022

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to identify the factors affecting readmission in stroke patients. Methods: A retrospective study design was used. Participants were 3,675 adult cerebral stroke patients in the inpatient wards of the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery of G University Hospital located in C city. Data were collected from January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2021 and data were analyzed using χ² test, independent t-test, and multivariate logistic regression with SPSS/WIN 24.0. Results: After discharge for stroke, the readmission rate was 23.7%, and the mortality rate was 0.3%. The variables with significant differences between the readmission group and non-readmission group were age, type of stroke, surgery, ICU treatment, mRS score, blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease. Factors influencing an readmission in stroke patients were Age 65-74 (OR 1.30, 95% CI=1.03-1.64), ≥ 75 (OR 1.28, 95% CI=1.02-1.62), mRS score 2points (OR 2.50, 95% CI=1.99-3.13), HTN status (OR 1.26, 95% CI=1.07-1.50), CVD status (OR 1.38, 95% CI=1.01-1.90), TC (OR 1.60, 95% CI=1.05-2.44). Conclusion: To lower the readmission rate of stroke patients, it is essential to control lifestyle, including whether or not to take treatment drugs, after diagnosing risk factors such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease, hyperlipidemia. Nursing interventions that can provide information on risk factor management and coping strategies are urgently needed as symptoms change. In addition, research is needed to develop and implement an intervention strategy that can improve the function of stroke patients as much as possible at home or in society so that they can lead an independent life without the help of others, and verify their effectiveness.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.33-54
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• 1981

The purposes of this study were to determine the relevant nursing needs of patients following discharge; to identify the degree of their nursing needs; to identify types and status of discharge order and information given to patients; and to determine their specific nursing needs according to their diagnosis. In addition, opinions toward home care services provided by hospitals or by public health nurses and appointment plans with their physicians were also asked in order to determine the necessity of follow-up care for the patient after discharge. Nine hundred and eighty eight subjects were collected among patients being discharged from one national university hospital and four city hospitals. Data were collected from June,1979 to December,1979 using questionnaires and interviews. On the bases of these data the following findings were observed; 1) Almost 40 percents of total subjects discharged from the hospital with some or great degree of nursing needs in general. The most problematic nursing needs were needs for comfort which include needs for releaving pain, for sound sleep and rest, because these needs can only be met by professional help. More than 50% of total subjects have this problem. 2) Needs for mental health, general metabolism, general hygiene and activities and safety were observed in more than 20 percent of subjects. 3) Discharge orders on diet and oral medication were recorded in patients' charts in 70% of all cases. However, more than fifty percents of patients have not been told these information from doctors or nurses. Even though some of them might have had appointment plans with their physicians, they would not keep the appointments unless they completely understood the necessity of the follow-up care. If they have not had any appointment or would not visit the out-patient clinic, there is no method of caring them and prerenting funther discomfort or complications. Even in injection, ski care, dressing and bath, only one thirds of the subjects having recorded discharge orders understood what they need after discharge. The rest of cases have not known what to do for their further care. 4) More than 80 percents and 70 percents of total subjects agreed to a system of home care services provided by hospitals or public health nurses respectively. That is, regardless of sources of medical expenses, most of patients wanted to be taken care of at home following discharge. 5) While more than half of the patients having benefit of medical insurance or paying fully by themselves had appointment plans with their physicians, only one thirds of the patients fully or partially paid by government had appointment plans with their physicians. These results ex-plain that the appointment plan is directly associated with their economic power. This indicates that the home care services are more needed to the people with lower economical status. 6) Those who have been in the hospital more than 24 days wanted !o have home care services more than those who had less hospital days. They also had more appointment plans than other groups. 7) More than 70 percents of the subjects who had been in a university hospital and approximately 30 percents of the subjects in the city hospitals had appointment plans with their physicians. 8) Those who had the cerebrovascular disease, cancer or hypertension demanded more nursing needs such as needs for comfort, for general metabolism and for mental health. 9) Factors which were associated with the degree of patients' nursing needs were age, duration of hospitalization, opinion toward home care services given by public health nurses, hospital appointments and types of hospital. That is, the older they were and the longer the periods of hospitalization were, the higher were their nursing needs. The more they had nursing needs, the more they wanted to have nursing services and had appointment plans. It can be concluded that there is a great demand for a positive and systematic home care services to the people who have been discharged from hospitals following critical care. This program is definitely demanded for the low income groups of people with less education with the financial assistance of the government or other funding agencies.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.10 no.1
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• pp.127-130
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• 1997

A 67-year old man with a history of cardiac disease underwent epidural catheterization for pain control of postherpetic neuralgia. Patient had severe back pain and pus discharge at catheter insertion site after dischange from medical part. Patient received anticoagulant therapy with $Aspirin^{(R)}$ and $Coumadin^{(R)}$ prescribed for 15 days in medical part. Magnetic resonance imaging(MRI) showed a diffuse $T_{4-7}$ anterior epidural mass compressing the spinal cord. Emergency surgical exploration revealed a thoracic epidural hematoma without abcess formation. Operation was successful and patient recovered satisfactory without any sequelae.