• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.51 no.1
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• pp.51-53
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• 2012

Spontaneous hematomas of the iliacus muscle are rare lesions and these are seen in individuals receiving anticoagulation therapy or patients with blood dyscrasias such as hemophilia. It can cause femoral neuropathy and resultant pain and paralysis. Although there is no clear consensus for the treatment of femoral neuropathy from iliacus muscle hematomas, delays in the surgical evacuation of hematoma for decompression of the femoral nerve can lead to a prolonged or permanent disability. We report here on a rare case of a spontaneous iliacus muscle hematoma that caused femoral neuropathy in a patient who was taking warfarin for occlusive vascular disease and we discuss the treatment.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.2 no.1
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• pp.57-60
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• 1989

The Melkersson-Rosenthal (M-R) syndrome consists of a triad of (1) recurrent peripheral facial nerve paralysis which develops alternately on both sides of face, (2) non-inflammatory facial edema, and (3) fissuring of tongue. A 59 years old female patient developed the left facial palsy on September, 1988. Right facial palsy developed continuously 2 months later after the spontaneous remission of left facial palsy. On February, 1989, we have found out M-R syndrome which accompanied with migraine type of intermittent headache, and hypertension in one attack of cerebral stroke several years ago, there were no diabetes mellitus, pulmonary tuberculosis and brain tumor in clinical studies. Although the causes of this syndrome were not noted, we performed the stellate ganglion block and transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation for treatment of the palsy, but the clinical effectiveness of these were not satisfactory.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.18 no.6
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• pp.215-224
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• 2001

Objcetive : Neuropathic pain sometimes arises from a partial peripheral nerve injury. This kind of pain is usually accompanied by spontaneous burning pain, allodynia and hyperalgesia. It has been well known that acupuncture is effective to the pain control from ancient time in Asia. However, it is not clear whether acupuncture can control neuropathic pain. The aim of the present study is to examine if acupuncture stimulation may be effective to the mechanical allodynia in a rat model of neuropathic pain. Methods : To produce neuropathic pain, under sodium pentobarbital anesthesia, the right superior caudal trunk was resected between the S3 and S4 spinal nerves. After the neuropathic surgery, we examined if the animals exhibited the behavioral signs of mechanical allodynia. The mechanical allodynia was assessed by stimulating the tail with von Frey hair (bending force : 2.0g). three or 6 weeks after the neuropathic surgery, acupuncture stimulation was delivered to Houxi (SI 3) as the following parameters (2HZ frequency, 0.07mA intensity and 3msec duration) for 30 minutes. Results : The stimulation of Houxi (SI 3) acupoint relieved the behavioral signs of mechanical allodynia. Conclusion : Our results suggest that acupuncture can control the mechanical allodynia of neuropathic pain.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.224-230
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• 2022

Background: An epidural blood patch (EBP) is a procedure to treat intracranial hypotension that does not respond to conservative treatment. EBPs are commonly repeated when the symptoms persist. In this study, we used a large single-center retrospective cohort and evaluated the factors associated with repeated EBPs. Methods: From January 2010 to December 2020, a total of 596 patients were treated with EBPs for intracranial hypotension. We evaluated the factors associated with repeated EBPs in the entire population, in patients with spontaneous intracranial hypotension (SIH), and in those with available myelographies. Results: In a total of 596 patients, 125 (21.1%) patients required repeated EBPs, and 96/278 (34.5%) in SIH and 29/314 (9.2%) in iatrogenic population. In patients with SIH, international normalized ratio (INR) and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) leakage on myelographies consistently exhibited significant associations (odds ratio [OR], 1.38; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.02-1.87; P = 0.043 and OR, 2.18; 95% CI, 1.28-3.69; P = 0.004). In patients with iatrogenic injury, INR and CSF leakage on myelogram did not show difference in repeated EBPs. Conclusions: Repeated EBPs may be more frequently required in patients with SIH. Prolonged INR and CSF leakage were associated with repeated EBPs in patient with SIH. Further studies are needed to determine factors associated with repeated EBP requirements.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.18 no.3
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• pp.163-167
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• 2011

Complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a disease that causes chronic spontaneous pain and hyperesthesia of one or more parts of legs and arms, which is accompanied with problems of the automatic nervous system or the motor nervous system. However, up to date, it is unclear what causes the syndrome and how to diagnose and treat it. Although several treatments including medication and sympathetic nerve block are performed against CRPS, the therapeutic effect of the treatments is limited. The electroconvulsive thera-py (ECT), of which the mechanism is not clarified, is a treatment used for treatment-resistant depression. ECT is also reported to be effective against pain. Therefore, we performed the ECT for a 24-year-old female patient who has been diagnosed as CRPS. Her pain had not been much improved by medications and interventional procedures. At admission to a psychiatric ward for ECT, she com-plained of over 8 points of pain on visual analogue scale and the constrained movement around the painful part. Eight ECTs-three times a week-were performed for three weeks in hospital and then the ECT once a week was performed after her leaving the hospital. During the ECTs, pain had been reduced and the range of movement in the constrained parts had increased. Further systematic re-search is needed to confirm the effect of electroconvulsive therapy against CRPS.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.10-15
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• 2018

Background: To identify a new strategy for postoperative pain management, we investigated the analgesic effects of allopregnanolone (Allo) in an incisional pain model, and also assessed its effects on the activities of the primary afferent fibers at the dorsal horn. Methods: In experiment 1, 45 rats were assigned to Control, Allo small-dose (0.16 mg/kg), and Allo large-dose (1.6 mg/kg) groups (n = 15 in each). The weight bearing and mechanical withdrawal thresholds of the hind limb were measured before and at 2, 24, 48, and 168 h after Brennan's surgery. In experiment 2, 16 rats were assigned to Control and Allo (0.16 mg/kg) groups (n = 8 in each). The degree of spontaneous pain was measured using the grimace scale after the surgery. Activities of the primary afferent fibers in the spinal cord (L6) were evaluated using immunohistochemical staining. Results: In experiment 1, the withdrawal threshold of the Allo small-dose group was significantly higher than that of the Control group at 2 h after surgery. Intergroup differences in weight bearing were not significant. In experiment 2, intergroup differences in the grimace scale scores were not significant. Substance P release in the Allo (0.16 mg/kg) group was significantly lower than that in the Control group. Conclusions: Systemic administration of Allo inhibited mechanical allodynia and activities of the primary afferent fibers at the dorsal horn in a rat postoperative pain model. Allo was proposed as a candidate for postoperative pain management.

• Journal of Oral Medicine and Pain
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.22-27
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• 2024

A 74-year-old female presented with a complaint of dry mouth, continuous spontaneous burning sensation in the tongue, and asymptomatic submucosal soft tissue mass on both sides of the lower labial mucosa. She refused to undergo total excision of the mass due to concern about the possibility of complications such as nerve damage because of the large size of the mass. As her clinical features and magnetic resonance imaging indicated the possibility of Sjögren's syndrome, a biopsy of the minor salivary gland of the right lower lip was performed. Consequently, she was diagnosed with mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT) lymphoma. Although the patient had typical signs and symptoms of Sjögren's syndrome, the histopathological result of MALT lymphoma made it impossible to determine whether the patient had a history of Sjögren's syndrome. For patients with risk factors for MALT lymphoma, such as Sjögren's syndrome, a biopsy of the labial minor salivary gland with immunohistochemical staining can be helpful in the diagnosis of not only Sjögren's syndrome but also MALT lymphoma.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.24 no.6
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• pp.570-578
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• 1991

The spontaneous pneumothorax is the sudden collapse of the lung usually by air leakage from the ruptured sub-pleural bleb and has high recurrence rate. For prevention against recurrence, many drugs such as tetracycline, talcum powder, quinacrine, etc. have been used but the effects are not satisfactory. We reduced the recurrence rate successfully by the fibrin glue instillation through the chest tube. From the January 1989 to September 1990, we have managed 65 patients of spontaneous pneumothorax with closed thoracostomy and fibrin glue[fibrinogen 1gm/50ml with approtinin 3, 000kIU /ml, thrombin 5, 000IU /ml in 3% each 10ml] instillation through the chest tube. And we compared the results with those of 106 patients of spontaneous pneumothorax who were managed only by the closed thoracostomy from January 1985 to December 1988. Only the patients who visited our hospital with recurrence were considered as the recurred cases but the others were considered as not recurred. And the removal of chest tubes usually done 3 days after cessation of air leakage or 2 days after fibrin glue instillation Statistical analysis was done by X2-test. The results were as followings: 1. The recurrence rate of fibrin glue instillation group was lower than that of non-instillation group[1st attack: 15.1% versus 27.6% p<0, 05, the 2nd attack: 33.3% versus 73.7% p<0.01, the total 18.5% versus 35.8% p<0.01]. 2. The mean duration of chest tube drainage in the fibrin glue instillation group was shorter than non-instillation group[4.24$\pm$1.36 days versus 4.48$\pm$1.73 days p<0.05]. 3. The mean duration of hospitalization was shorter in the instillation group [8.12$\pm$3.5 days versus 10.8$\pm$3.8 days p<0.05] The complications were transient mild fever, chest pain, pleural effusion in 46 cases of 65 patients, but those didn`t make any problem. We concluded that the fibrin glue is effective in the reduction of recurrence rate, obliteration of air leakage and duration of hospitalization.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.143-147
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• 1996

Spontaneous perforation of the bile duct in children is a very rare disorder. We experienced a 6 year-old girl with spontaneous perforation of the right hepatic duct. The patient was initially misdiagnosed as hepatitis because of elevation of liver enzyme and then as appendicitis because of fluid collection in the pelvic cavity demonstrated by ultrasonogram. A laparoscopic exploration was done and no abnormal findings were detected except bile-stained ascites. Peritoneal drainage was performed and the patients seemed to improve clinically. Abdominal pain, distention and high fever developed after removal of the drains. DISIDA scan showed a possible of bile leak into the peritoneal cavity. ERCP demonstrated free spill of dye from the right hepatic duct. At laparotomy, the leak was seen in the anterior wall of the right hepatic duct 2cm above the junction of the cystic duct and common hepatic duct. The perforation was linear in shape and 0.8cm in size. The patient underwent cholecystectomy, primary closure of the perforation and T-tube choedochostomy. We could not identify the cause of the perforation; however, the T-tube cholangiography taken on the 42nd postoperative day showed a little more dilatation of the proximal common bile duct compared with the cholangiography taken on the 14th day. Long-term follow-up of the patient will be necessary because of the possibility for further change of the duct.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.19-30
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• 2000

Background: Partial nerve injury to a peripheral nerve may induce the development of neuropathic pain which is characterized by symptoms such as spontaneous burning pain, allodynia and hyperalgesia. Though underlying mechanism has not fully understood, sensitization of dorsal horn neurons may contribute to generate such symptoms. Nitric oxide acts as an inter- and intracellular messenger in the nervous system and is produced from L-arginine by nitric oxide synthase (NOS). Evidence is accumulating which indicate that nitric oxide may mediate nociceptive information transmission. Recently, it has been reported that NOS inhibitor suppresses neuropathic pain behavior in an neuropathic pain animal model. This study was conducted to determine whether nitric oxide could be involved in the sensitization of dorsal horn neurons in neuropathic animal model. Methods: Neuropathic animal model was made by tightly ligating the left L5 and L6 spinal nerves and we examined the effects of iontophoretically applied NOS inhibitor (L-NAME) on the dorsal horn neuron's responses to mechanical stimuli within the receptive fields. Results: In normal animals, NOS inhibitor (L-NAME) specifically suppressed the responses to the noxious mechanical stimuli. In neuropathic animals, the dorsal horn neuron's responses to mechanical stimuli were enhanced and NOS inhibitor suppressed the dorsal horn neuron's enhanced responses to non-noxious stimuli as well as those to noxious ones. Conclusions: These results suggest that nitric oxide may mediate nociceptive transmission in normal animal and also mediate sensitization of dorsal horn neurons in neuropathic pain state.