• Archives of Plastic Surgery
• /
• v.38 no.4
• /
• pp.458-464
• /
• 2011

Purpose: Metacarpal fractures are common hand injury that may require operative intervention to ensure adequate reduction and stabilization. Traditionally, titanium miniplate was used for rigid fixation of bone fractures. However, the use of permanent plate lends itself to multiple complications such as infection, exposure of the hardware, tendon adhesions, tendon rupture, prolonged pain, bony atrophy and osteoporosis (stress shielding), metal sensitization, and palpation under the skin. This study evaluated the usefulness and stability of biodegradable plates and screws for treatment of metacarpal bone fractures. Methods: There was 17 patients who had surgery for metacarpal bone fracture from April 2007 to June 2010. All patients had open reduction and internal fixation. We used absorbable plates and screws (Inion CPS$^{(R)}$) for internal fixation. Postoperative results were assessed with x-ray. Stability of plates and screws, healing process and its complications were observed by clinical and radiographic assessment. Results: All patients were successfully reduced of bone fracture, and fixations with absorbable plates and screws were stable. The mean follow up period was 7.1 months. 2 patients complained postoperative pain, but they were relieved with analgesics. All patients experienced transient stiffness, but they were relieved with active assistive range of motion after removal of splint. No patients suffered complications which could be occurred by using metallic plate. Conclusion: There was no critical complications such as re-fracture or nonunion among patients. No patients suffered side effects related with metallic implants. Biodegradable implants can offer clinically stable and attractive alternative to metallic implants to stabilize metacarpal bone fractures in the hand.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
• /
• v.37 no.4
• /
• pp.496-498
• /
• 2010

Purpose: Lacerations requiring formal wound closure compose a significant number of all childhood injuries presenting to the emergency department. The problem with conventional suture technique are that suture removal is quite cumbersome, especially in children. Unwanted soft tissue damage can result in the process of suture removal, which calls for sedation, stressful for both medical personnel and child. The purpose of this study is to introduce the convenient suture technique for pediatric facial lacerations. Methods: Children under the age of four, presenting to the emergency department with facial lacerations were enrolled in the study. From March 2008 to June 2009, 63 patients (41 males and 22 females) with an average age of 1.4 years were treated with our convenient suture technique using utilized a loop suspended above a double, flat tie. Clean, tension free wounds were treated with our technique, wounds with significant skin defect and concomitant fractures were excluded. Results: The Patients were followed-up in 1, 3 and 5 days postoperatively. On the third hospital visit, suture removal was done by simply cutting the loop suspended above the wound margin and gently pulling the thread with forceps. There were no significant differences in the rates of infection and dehiscence compared with conventional suture technique. Conclusion: The use of our technique was to be simple with similar operative time compared with conventional suture technique. Removal of suture materials were easy without unwanted injuries to the surrounding tissue which resulted in less discomfort for the patient and greater parental satisfaction, minimized the complications. It can be considered as a viable alternative in the repair of pediatric facial lacerations.

• Journal of Physiology & Pathology in Korean Medicine
• /
• v.29 no.3
• /
• pp.203-217
• /
• 2015

Scolpendra subspinipes (centipede) is pungent in flavor, activates the channels to stop pain, and, removes toxins and resolves masses. So it has been used as a folk remedy. We researched folk remedies which used centipede as a single medicine and results of its prior clinical and experimental study, and figured out that centipedes are effective on ulcerative disease, herpes zoster, clavus, insect bite, inflammatory disease, furunculus, pain disease by external therapy, and oral administration is effective on anti-cancer such as hepatoma and uterine cancer, cerebrovascular disease, inhibition of atherosclerosis, sedation of central nervous system, antipyretic action, and anti-inflammation, and centipede Herb-Acupuncture is effective on inflammatory disease and pain disease. Centipede preparation materials for external therapy were sesame oil, perilla oil, vinegar, salt, and, burnt alum. Fumigation of centipede treated paronychia, pertussis, and hemorrhoids. For the external therapy, the way of centipede powder mixing with other materials has been used. It is needed that we use dusted powder to make skin absorb its ingredients more easily, and we study intensely minor ingredients to make centipede components absorbed more effectively and do pharmacological action. Also, fumigation, a kind of another external therapy, is considered to be effective treatment of upper respiratory infection like pertussis, so it needs an in-depth study on centipede fumigation.

• Toxicological Research
• /
• v.28 no.4
• /
• pp.255-262
• /
• 2012

Inflammation is the immune system's response to infection and injury-related disorders, and is related to pro-inflammatory factors (NO, $PGE_2$, cytokines, etc.) produced by inflammatory cells. Atopic dermatitis (AD) is a representative inflammatory skin disease that is characterized by increasing serum levels of inflammatory chemokines, including macrophage-derived chemokine (MDC). Carpinus tschonoskii is a member of the genus Carpinus. We investigated the anti-inflammatory activity of C. tschonoskii by studying the effects of various solvent fractions prepared from its leaves on inflammatory mediators in HaCaT and RAW264.7 cells. We found that the chloroform fraction of C. tschonoskii inhibited MDC at both the protein and mRNA levels in HaCaT cells, acting via the inhibition of STAT1 in the IFN-${\gamma}$ signaling pathway. In addition, the chloroform fraction significantly suppressed the expression of inflammatory factors induced by lipopolysaccharide stimulation, except COX-2 and TNF-${\alpha}$. These results suggest that the chloroform fraction of C. tschonoskii leaves may include a component with potential anti-inflammatory activity.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
• /
• v.58 no.4
• /
• pp.467-473
• /
• 2020

Chinese edible frogs, Hoplobatrachus rugulosus, were examined to estimate the potential risks of human gnathostomiasis and sparganosis in Myanmar. A total of 20 frogs were purchased in a local market of Yangon and examined with naked eyes and the artificial digestion method after skin peeling in June 2018 and June 2019. Larvae of gnathostomes and Spirometra (=spargana) were detected in 15 (75.0%) and 15 (75.0%) frogs with average intensities of 10.5 and 6.3 larvae per infected frog, respectively. Gnathostome larvae were 2.75-3.80 (av. 3.30) mm long and 0.29-0.36 (0.33) mm wide. They had a characteristic head bulb with 4 rows of hooklets, a muscular long esophagus, and 2 pairs of cervical sac. The mean number of hooklets were 41, 44, 47, and 50 on the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th row, respectively. Collected spargana were actively moving, particularly with the scolex part, and have ivory-white color and variable in size. Conclusively, it has been first confirmed that Chinese edible frogs, H. rugulosus, are highly infected with larval gnathostomes and spargana in this study. Consuming these frogs is considered a potential risk of human gnathostomiasis and sparganosis in Myanmar.

• Pediatric Infection and Vaccine
• /
• v.25 no.1
• /
• pp.54-59
• /
• 2018

Pleural paragonimiasis is uncommon in the pediatric population and therefore can be challenging to diagnose. This is a case of a 6-year-old girl with pleural effusion who had been having intermittent persistent epigastric pain and erythematous rash on the face, hands, and arms for 6 months. Exudative pleural effusion with prominent eosinophils and serum eosinophilia were observed. As patient showed high immunoglobulin M (IgM) titers against Mycoplasma pneumoniae, she was treated with antibiotics; however, the pleural effusion did not improve during hospitalization. Despite showing negative stool ova and cyst results, patient's serum and pleural effusion were positive for Paragonimus westermani-specific IgGs on enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Respiratory symptoms, pleural effusion, and skin symptoms improved after praziquantel treatment.

• The Korean journal of internal medicine
• /
• v.33 no.6
• /
• pp.1241-1251
• /
• 2018

Background/Aims: To estimate the level of agreement and positivity rates of latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) tests prior to the use of tumor necrosis factor (TNF) inhibitors in relation to underlying rheumatic diseases and endemic tuberculosis levels. Methods: The Ovid-Medline, Embase, and Cochrane Libraries were searched for articles before October 2013 involving LTBI screening in rheumatic patients, including rheumatoid arthritis (RA), ankylosing spondylitis (AS), juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA), and psoriatic arthritis. Results: In pooled analyses, 5,224 rheumatic patients had undergone both a tuberculin skin test (TST) and an interferon-gamma release assay (IGRA) before TNF inhibitors use. The positivity of TST, QuantiFERON-TB Gold In Tube (QFT-GIT), and T-SPOT.TB (T-SPOT) tests were estimated to be 29%, 17%, and 18%, respectively. The agreement percentage between the TST and QFT-GIT, and between the TST and T-SPOT were 73% and 75%. Populations from low-to-moderate endemic TB presented with slightly less agreement (71% between TST and QFT-GIT, and 74% between TST and T-SPOT) than patients from high endemic countries (73% between TST and QFT-GIT, and 81% between TST and T-SPOT). By underlying disease stratification, a lower level of agreement between TST and QFT-GIT was found among AS (64%) than among JIA (77%) and RA patients (73%). Conclusions: We reaffirm the current evidence for accuracy of LTBI test done by TST and IGRA among rheumatic patients is inconsistent. Our stratified analysis suggests different screening strategies might be needed in clinical settings considering the endemic status in the patient's country of origin and the precise nature of underlying diseases.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
• /
• v.19 no.4
• /
• pp.304-308
• /
• 2018

Replantation using microvascular anastomosis is considered to be the optimal method in treating the amputated ear in terms of resulting color, texture, and shape. Only a few cases of ear replantation have been reported because it is anatomically difficult to identify suitable vessels for anastomosis. We successfully replanted the amputated helical rim of the ear using single arterial anastomosis. A 37-year-old man had his helical rim amputated by a human bite. The amputee was about $4{\times}1cm$ in dimension, composed of skin and soft tissue including auricular cartilage. Replantation was performed anastomosing a small artery of the amputee with a terminal branch of the posterior auricular artery. After replantation, intravenous heparinization was performed and prostaglandin E1 and aspirin were administered. Venous congestion was decompressed by stab incisions applied with heparin solution soaked gauze. Venous congestion of the amputee slowly began to resolve at 4 days after the operation. The amputated segment of the helical rim survived completely with good aesthetic shape and color. The authors propose that performing microvascular anastomosis should be attempted especially if it is possible to detect vessels on cut surfaces of ear amputee and stump. Proper postoperative care for venous congestion, arterial insufficiency, and infection should be followed for amputee survival.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
• /
• v.82 no.4
• /
• pp.298-305
• /
• 2019

Background: Tuberculosis (TB) causes substantial health burden to the Korean military. This study aims to assess the impact of infectious TB cases on close and casual contacts in the Korean Army settings based on contact investigation data. Methods: Six Army units with infectious TB cases from September 2012 to May 2013 were enrolled in the study. We analyzed the clinical data from close and casual contacts screened using the tuberculin skin test (TST) and QuantiFERON-TB Gold In-Tube to identify latent tuberculosis infection (LTBI) cases. For the control group, 286 military conscripts with no reported TB exposure were tested by TST only. Results: Of the 667 contacts of index cases, LTBI cases identified were as follows: 21.8% of close contacts of smearpositive cases (71/326), 8.5% of casual contacts of smear-positive cases (26/305), and 2.8% of close contacts of smearnegative cases (1/36). In the control group, 16.8% showed positivity in TST. In a multivariate analysis, having stayed in the same room or next room with TB patients was identified as a risk factor of LTBI. Conclusion: Using the data from TB contact investigations in the Korean Army units, we found an overall LTBI rate of 14.7% among the contacts screened. This study demonstrates that contacts living in the same building, especially the same room or next room, with TB patients are at a high risk of acquiring LTBI, serving as additional evidence for defining close and casual contacts of a TB patient with regard to Army barrack settings.

• The Journal of the Korea institute of electronic communication sciences
• /
• v.16 no.5
• /
• pp.991-1000
• /
• 2021

Among non-invasive blood glucose detection technologies, the optical technique is a method that uses light reflection, absorption, and scattering characteristics when passing through a biological medium. It reduces pain or discomfort in measurement and has no risk of infection. So it is becoming a major flow of blood glucose detection research. Among them, near-infrared spectroscopy has a disadvantage in that the complexity increases when analyzing signals detected due to interferences between proteins and acids that share a similar absorption function with blood glucose molecules. In this study, a non-invasive sensor system with multiple near-infrared bands was designed and manufactured to alleviate the deterioration of blood glucose detection function that may occur due to skin absorption of near-infrared rays. A blood survey was conducted to verify the system, and the degree of blood glucose response in the blood was collected as spectral data, and the results of this study were quantitatively verified in terms of correlation between the data and blood glucose.