• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.40-45
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• 2007

Background: Caudal block is useful when anesthesia for surgery or treatment for chronic pain is needed, but this procedure has a failure rate of up to 25% even when it performed byan experienced physician. This high failure rate is usually due to improper needle placement. Methods: After gaining approval of the ethics committee, 46 patients received caudal blocks under ultrasound guidance; these were performed after the anatomical structures in the sacral hiatus had been measured with ultrasound. All these procedures were performed by the same anesthesiologist. The position and direction of the needle were identified using fluoroscopy by injecting a radio-opaque contrast through the needle. The time taken from thelidocaine injection to verification of the needle was measured and the planned nerve block was then carried out. Results: All cases of needle insertion into the sacral canal under ultrasound guidance were successful. The average duration of the procedure and the trial count were $134.1{\pm}10.1seconds$ and $1.2{\pm}0.1$, respectively. In 12 of the 46 cases (26%), the needle deviated either left or right in the sacral canal, so the direction of the needle had to be adjusted. The distance between two cornua, the depth of the sacral hiatus and the thickness and length of the sacrococcygeal ligament were $17.1{\pm}0.4$, $3.9{\pm}0.3$, $2.3{\pm}0.1$ and $24.9{\pm}0.9mm$, respectively. Conclusions: Ultrasound guidance can increase the success rate of inserting a needle into the sacral canal. However, even when ultrasound is used, the needle can deviate either left or right in the sacral canal.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.520-523
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• 2007

Purpose: Verrucous carcinoma is a rare, low-grade and well-differentiated squamous cell carcinoma, representing as a warty tumor. Estimation of the incidence for cutaneous lesions is not available because they are rare. We describe a case of verrucous carcinoma, a rare type, complication of a chronic pressure ulcer of duration more than 15 years. Methods: A 17-year-old boy presented with a large lesion involving the sacral area, which had been neglected for about 15 years. He had a history of surgical extirpation 2 years ago, but not cured. Examination revealed a cauliflower-like mass arising from an irregularly oval-shaped tumor which was $6.0{\times}4.5cm$ in size with signs of infection and ulcer. The lesion involved the sacrococcygeal area, spreading to both medial gluteal regions. The perianal skin did not appear to be directly affected. Results: A preoperative punch biopsy revealed a extremely well differentiated verrucous carcinoma. There were positive results in immunohistochemistry in the items of p53, p63, Ki-67. An 'en-bloc' excision of the tumor with the clinically normal surrounding tissue was carried out. Reconstruction was achieved by local regional flap. Histopathological findings of the excised area fully confirmed the preoperative biopsy report. It remained free of recurrence for a period of about 8 months. Conclusion: We believe that in patients with buttock involvement, regardless of the extent of such tumors, surgical therapy should be considered as the first-choice of treatment as reconstruction can be performed without excessive impairment for the patient.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.29 no.4
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• pp.574-579
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• 2000

Chordomas are rare central nervous system tumors that are found predominantly in the sacrococcygeal(50%) and basiosphenoidal region(35%). Most of the remainder are related to the vertebral bodies and only 1 to 2% of them are known to occur in the thoracic vertebrae. A 15-year-old girl was admitted because of paraparesis. Three months prior to admission, she underwent a lumbar laminectomy at other hospital for the treatment of herniated lumbar disc but paraparesis became rather aggravated after the operation. At admission, MRI showed a low signal T1WI, high signal T2WI mass compressing the cord at T2 vertebral body. The tumor was subtotally removed via costotransversectomy but as the tumor was proven to be a chordoma, a second stage operation via anterior route was followed. At second operation, T2 corpectomy and T1-T3 plate fixation with autogeneous ileac bone graft was performed. Shortly after the operation, preoperative paraparesis disappeared completely and no evidence of tumor recurrence was noticed both clinically and radiologically for next 2 years. Spine surgery at cervicothoracic junction may be technically demanding due to anatomical complexity and hindering large vessels. The authers reviewed this case with special emphasis on the surgical procedure in this region.

• The Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Ultrasound Society
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.105-112
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• 2014

Purpose: Ultrasound-guided epidural caudal block for low back pain and radiating pain is often performed in the treatment of outpatients. However, this procedure has a failure rate of up to 25% even when it performed by an experienced physician. The authors investigate the effectiveness of Ultrasound-guided epidural caudal block in patients related to disc herniation or spinal stenosis. Materials and Methods: Ultrasound-guided caudal epidural block was performed in 55 outpatients with LBP and radiating pain. Patient was placed in the prone position and sonographic image of sacral hiatus was obtained using linear probe. A 22-gauge needle was advanced into the sacrococcygeal membrane under ultrasound guidance and then medication was injected into the caudal epidural space. There were 31 cases of disc herniation, and 24 cases of spinal stenosis. Patients were evaluated by Visual Analog Scale (VAS) pain score at pre-treatment, post-treatment, 2 weeks and 4 weeks by telephone interviews. Results: 53 of the 55 cases (96.4%) of needle insertion into the sacral canal under ultrasound guidance were successful. Gender was not significantly different between disc herniation group and spinal stenosis group. But there was a significant age difference between disc herniation group ($42.3{\pm}10.8$), and spinal stenosis group ($62.8{\pm}15.1$) [p<0.001]. The VAS score at pre-treatment, post-treatment, 2 weeks, 4 weeks in disc group were 6.84, 3.1, 1.8 & 1.77. The VAS score at pre-treatment, post-treatment, 2 weeks, 4 weeks in spinal stenosis group were 6.88, 3.58, 4.33 & 4.88. The VAS score in both groups was significantly improved after the procedure (p<0.001). Over time, the two groups were statistically significant differences in VAS score after adjusting for age (p<0.001). Conclusion: Ultrasound-guided caudal epidural block seems to provide a high success rate and a significantly better response in disc group than spinal stenosis group.

• Journal of Yeungnam Medical Science
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.293-299
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• 1986

Obstetric problems concerning macrosomia were evaluated by retrospective review of 91 pregancies that resulted in the delivery of an infant weighing 4,000gm or more at the Yeungnam University Hospital during 3 1/2 years from Jun. 1983 to Oct. 1986. The results obtained were as follows. 1. Macrosomic infants weighing 4.000gm or more occured in 2.8% of the deliveries. 2. 65.9% of macrosomic infants and 53.5% of total infants were male. The ratio of male was statistically higher in the macrosomic infants than in the total infants(P<0.05). 3. The incidence of macrosomia was higher with increasing qestational age, and deliveries at 42 weeks or more gestation were more common in the macrosomic infants than in the total infants(P<0.01). 4. The incidence of macrosomia was highter with increasing parity, and stastically higher in the multipara than in the primipara(P<0.01). 5. There was no difference in the incidence of macrosomia between the mothers aged 24 or less and that of 30 or more. 6. The cesarean section rate of macrosomia(30.8%) was stastically higher than that of the total infants(15.7%)(P<0.01) 7. With the pregnacy and delivery of macrosomic infants, 22 antepartum anemia(24.2%), 10 postpartum hemorrhage(11.0%), 9 birth canal injury(10.0%), 7 prolonged second stage of labor (7.7%), 4 breech presentation, and 3 pregancy induced hypertension occured in the mothers, and 10 asphyxia(or Apgar score 6 or less), 2 shoulder dystocia, 1 intrauterine fetal death, and 1 sacrococcygeal teratoma occured in the infants.