• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.531-537
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• 2022

Wide-awake, local anesthesia, no tourniquet (WALANT) is a technique that removes the requirement for operations to be performed with a tourniquet, general/regional anesthesia, sedation or an anesthetist. We reviewed the WALANT literature with respect to the diverse indications and impact of WALANT to discuss the importance of future surgical curriculum integration. With appropriate patient selection, WALANT may be used effectively in upper and lower limb surgery; it is also a useful option for patients who are unsuitable for general/regional anesthesia. There is a growing body of evidence supporting the use of WALANT in more complex operations in both upper and lower limb surgery. WALANT is a safe, effective, and simple technique associated with equivalent or superior patient pain scores among other numerous clinical and cost benefits. Cost benefits derive from reduced requirements for theater/anesthetic personnel, space, equipment, time, and inpatient stay. The lack of a requirement for general anesthesia reduces aerosol generating procedures, for example, intubation/high-flow oxygen, hence patients and staff also benefit from the reduced potential for infection transmission. WALANT provides a relatively, but not entirely, bloodless surgical field. Training requirements include the surgical indications, volume calculations, infiltration technique, appropriate perioperative patient/team member communication, and specifics of each operation that need to be considered, for example, checking of active tendon glide versus venting of flexor tendon pulleys. WALANT offers significant clinical, economic, and operative safety advantages when compared with general/regional anesthesia. Key challenges include careful patient selection and the comprehensive training of future surgeons to perform the technique safely.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.23 no.4
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• pp.213-220
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• 2023

Background: Third molar extraction is the most commonly performed minor oral surgical procedure in outpatient settings and requires regional anesthesia for pain control. Extraction of the maxillary molars commonly requires both posterior superior alveolar nerve block (PSANB) and greater palatine nerve block (GPNB), depending on the nerve innervations of the subject teeth. We aimed to study the effectiveness of PSANB alone in maxillary third molar (MTM) extraction. Methods: A sample size comprising 100 erupted and semi-erupted MTM was selected and subjected to study for extraction. Under strict aseptic conditions, the patients were subjected to the classical local anesthesia technique of PSANB alone with 2% lignocaine hydrochloride and adrenaline 1:80,000. After a latency period of 10 min, objective assessment of the buccal and palatal mucosa was performed. A numerical rating scale and visual analog scale were used. Results: In the post-latency period of 10 min, the depth of anesthesia obtained in our sample on the buccal side extended from the maxillary tuberosity posteriorly to the mesial of the first premolar (15%), second premolar (41%), and first molar (44%). This inferred that anesthesia was effectively high until the first molars and was less effective further anteriorly due to nerve innervation. The depth of anesthesia on the palatal aspect was up to the first molar (33%), second molar (67%), and lateromedially; 6% of the patients received anesthesia only to the alveolar region, whereas 66% received up to 1.5 cm to the mid-palatal raphe. In 5% of the cases, regional anesthesia was re-administered. An additional 1.8 ml PSANB was required in four patients, and another patient was administered a GPNB in addition to the PSANB during the time of extraction and elevation. Conclusion: The results of our study emphasize that PSANB alone is sufficient for the extraction of MTM in most cases, thereby obviating the need for poorly tolerated palatal injections.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.3
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• pp.225-232
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• 2022

Background: Pulmonary lobectomy is the standard of care for the treatment of early-stage non-small cell lung cancer. This study investigated the rate of utilization of supplemental anesthesia in patients undergoing video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS) or open lobectomy using a national database and assessed the effect of regional block (RB) on postoperative outcomes. Methods: Patients who underwent lobectomy for lung cancer between 2014-2019 were identified in the American College of Surgeons National Surgical Quality Improvement Program. The patients' primary mode of anesthesia and supplemental anesthesia were recorded. Preoperative characteristics and postoperative outcomes were compared between 2 surgical groups: those who underwent general anesthesia (GA) alone versus GA with RB. Multivariable regression analyses were performed on the outcomes of interest. Results: In total, 13,578 patients met the study criteria, with 87% undergoing GA and the remaining 13% receiving GA and RB. The use of neuraxial anesthesia decreased over the years, while RB use increased up to 20% in 2019. Age, body mass index, and preoperative comorbidities were comparable between groups. Patients who underwent VATS were more likely to receive RB than those who underwent thoracotomy. RB was most often utilized by thoracic surgeons. An adjusted analysis showed that RB use was associated with shorter hospital stays and a reduced likelihood of prolonged length of stay, but a higher rate of surgical site infections (SSIs). Conclusion: In a large surgical database, there was underutilization of supplemental anesthesia in patients undergoing lobectomy for lung cancer. RB utilization was associated with a shorter length of hospital stay and an increase in SSI incidence.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.14 no.1
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• pp.187-198
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• 2008

Purpose: Music intervention has long been used in research of patients undergoing surgical operation in reducing anxiety level and improve surgical outcome. However, there are few studies that have considered a patient's music preference. We investigated the effect of the tailored music intervention which chose music according to the patient's preference on anxiety level and vital signs. Method: The subjects were 50 patients who received regional anesthesia for surgical operation at D hospital in Pohang city from April, 2006 to November, 2006. All of the subjects were randomly assigned either music group (30 subjects) or non-music group (20 subjects). As the patients arrived in the operating room, vital signs were monitored until the subjects were transferred to the recovery room, while Spielberger's STAI-KYZ questionnaires were applied twice to measure preoperative and intra-operative anxiety. The data were analyzed by 2-test, t-test, one-way ANCOVA and repeated measures ANOVA using SPSS 12.0/PC+. Results: There were no significant differences between the two groups on vital signs. All of the vital signs increased when the subjects arrived in the operating room, but decreased quickly once the operation began, regardless of the groups. However, the music group reported significantly less intra-operative anxiety, compared to the non-music group (F=15.208, p<.000), when preoperative anxiety was treated as a covariance. Conclusion: The findings support that the use of music which was chosen by patients during the surgery significantly reduced patient's intra-operative anxiety during regional anesthesia.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.199-204
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• 1994

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the feasibility, advantages/disadvantages of patient-controlled sedation (PCS) compared to anesthesiologist-controlled sedation (ACS) during neurolytic pain block and regional anesthesia. Forty patients were divided randomly into two groups of 20 patients each. Group 1(ACS) received 0.01 $mg{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ intravenous midazolam and 0.5 ${\mu}g{\cdot}kg^{-1}$ fentanyl intravenously by anesthesiologist just before, 30, and 60 minutes after the procedure to acheive sedation; Group 2 (PCS) patients self-administered a mixture of midazolam (0.4 mg) and fentanyl ($20{\mu}g$) using a syringe type infusion pump (Terumo, Japan) to acheive sedation. Considering the dermographics of patients, the types and durations of procedure performed, the level of average sedation the comfort level were similar in both groups. But the doses of midazolam and fentanyl administerd in group 2 were smaller than those in group 1 (p<0.01). Patients in PCS group showed their level of sedation more proper than did those in ACS group. However, patients in ACS group rated their level of comfort higher than did those in PCS group. The findings of this study indicate that PCS using a combination of midazolam and fentanyl is a fafe and effective technique. More studies are, however, needed to determinc the best choice of drug(s), doses, lock-out intervals, and possible use of continuous infusion with patient-controlled sedation.

• The Journal of the Korean dental association
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2018

The most widely used method of pain control in dental practice is to block the pathway of painful impulses by local anesthesia. For a maximum effect of pain control at outpatient minor operation, regional anesthesia including nerve block must be performed. This issue includes various dental local anesthetic techniques on mandible, maxilla and considerations for selection of dental local anesthetics according to patient's age, duration of operation. Additionally, current conscious sedation technique combined with local anesthesia will be introduced for control of patient's anxiousness. Based on patient's general condition, severity of operation, local anesthesia sometimes must be changed into general anesthesia to avoid failure of dental practice. The exact choice of anesthetic techniques for minor operations at dental outpatient clinic must not be underestimated for complete success of pain control.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.519-522
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• 1991

Pain reflex and anesthetic state in swine with xylazine epidural anesthesia were observed. In xylazine epidural anesthesia, dosages of 0.50mg/kg BW for analgesia of perineal region and 0.7550mg/kg for analgesia of low abdominal wall were required. Regional anesthesia was induced 5~20 min after epidural injection of xylazine and recovered 90~120 min after administration. The results indicated that xylazine as an epidural local anesthetic was useful in swine.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.45-53
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• 2018

Background: Carotid endarterectomy (CEA) has been performed under regional and general anesthesia (GA). The general anesthesia versus local anesthesia for carotid surgery study compared the two techniques and concluded that there was no difference in perioperative outcomes. However, since this trial, new sedative agents have been introduced and devices that improve the delivery of regional anesthesia (RA) have been developed. The primary purpose of this pilot study was to compare intraoperative hemodynamic stability and postoperative outcomes between GA and ultrasound-guided superficial cervical plexus block (UGSCPB) under dexmedetomidine sedation for CEA. Methods: Medical records from 43 adult patients who underwent CEA were retrospectively reviewed, including 16 in the GA group and 27 in the RA group. GA was induced with propofol and maintained with sevoflurane. The UGSCPB was performed with ropivacaine under dexmedetomidine sedation. We compared the intraoperative requirement for vasoactive drugs, postoperative complications, pain scores using the numerical rating scale, and the duration of hospital stay. Results: There was no difference between groups in the use of intraoperative antihypertensive drugs. However, intraoperative inotropic and vasopressor agents were more frequently required in the GA group (p<0.0001). In the GA group, pain scores were significantly higher during the first 24 h after surgery (p<0.0001 between 0-6 h, p<0.004 between 6-12 h, and p<0.001 between 12-24 h). The duration of hospital stay was significantly more in the GA group ($13.3{\pm}4.6days$ in the GA group vs. $8.5{\pm}2.4days$ in the RA group, p<0.001). Conclusion: In this pilot study, intraoperative hemodynamic stability and postoperative outcomes were better in the RA compared to the GA group.

• Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing Administration
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.432-439
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine nursing workload associated with patient and anesthetic factors in the post-anesthesia care unit(PACU). Method: The data used in this study were collected from February 26th, 2008 to May 16th, 2008. The subjects were 828patients and collected data were analyzed by using SPSS program. Results: It was found that there were statistical differences in gender, age, past history, type of anesthesia, duration of anesthesia, type of surgery. The mean PRN for nursing workload was 25 for below 17 years, and 27.5 for above 61 years. The mean PRN for nursing workload was 27 for general anesthesia, and 16 for regional anesthesia. The mean PRN for nursing workload was 29 for orthopedic surgery and neurosurgery, and 23 for ophthalmology. The mean PRN for nursing workload was 24.6 for below 1hour in duration of anesthesia, and 27.5 for above 2hours in duration of anesthesia. Conclusion: This study was carried out to examine nursing workload in the PACU. The results from this study will be help to improve nursing in PACU through efficient distribution of nursing workload in PACU.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.1-2
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• 2016