• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.187-190
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• 1996

Facial nerve palsy is not an uncommon disease encountered at the department of otolaryngology or pain clinic. It usually occurs following viral infection(Bell's palsy, BP). However, it is rare to develop bilaterally, and that not simultaneously. We experienced a rare case of bilateral facial nerve palsy. Patient first experienced left side paralysis, then right side paralysis approximately two months later. We treated the patient with serial bilateral stellate ganglion blocks(SGB). When left side paralysis improved, we performed unilatertal SGB for right side paralysis. Patient was also treated with intermittent electro-acupuncture stimulations, to right side first, then left side. Four months of treatment provided good results. This may be the first case, in Korea, of facial nerve paralysis bilaterally within a certain interval, treated with serial SGB and electro-acupuncture stimulation. However, the etiology of this bilateral BP was not fully confirmed as being a cause of viral origin.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.324-327
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• 1995

Central serous chorioretinopathy is a relatively benign condition of young to middle-aged men, characterized by serous detachment of central retina as a consequence of focal leakage of fluid from the choriocapillaris through a defect in the retinal pigment epithelium. Approximately 80% of central serous chorioretinopathy undergo spontaneous resolution within 6 months. However 20 to 30% of patients with central serous chorioretinopathy have one or more recurrences and undergo chronic courses. In these cases laser photocoagulation is used to burn the leakage site directly, but there is no evidence that it reduces the chance of permanent loss of visual function and recurrence. We have administered stellate ganglion blocks (SGB) on a 43 year old male patient with central serous chorioretinopathy with multiple recurrences and experienced good results. We therefore recommend SGB as an effective treatment for central serous chorioretinopathy in conjunction with other ophthalmological treatments.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제4권2호
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• pp.133-136
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• 1991

Stellate ganglion block was performed in 15 patients with intractable glaucoma by injection of 8 ml of 1y lidocaine. The followings are the changes of intraocular pressure(mmHg): Pre -block $32.26{\pm}4.44$ 10 minutes after block $36.80{\pm}4.60$ 20 minutes after block $32.61{\pm}4.41$ 30 minutes after block $28.87{\pm}4.30$ 60 minutes after block $24.73{\pm}4.37$ 120 minutes after block $26.87{\pm}3.18$ 180 minutes after block $31.40{\pm}3.76$ The pressure rose up to 10 minutes post block and significant pressure descent was noticed from 30 minutes post-block. Maximum descent was seen by 60 minutes post-block and pre-block pressure was restored by 180 minutes post-block. For the purpose of cheeking the treatment effect, similar blocks were performed in 15 patients, one time daily for 5~8 days 3 times every othor day.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제9권1호
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• pp.57-62
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• 1996

Stellate ganglion block(SGB) improves cutaneous blood flow of the head and neck region and upper extremity. For this reason, SGB has been performed in neural and circulatory disorders. But there is controversy on the cerebral blood flow regulation by sympathetic innervation. We investigated the hypothesis that cerebral blood flow could be affected by blocking ipsilateral sympathetic innervation of cerebral blood flow could be affected by blocking ipsilateral sympathetic innervation of cerebral vasculature. In 10 volunteers, the blood flow velocity and pulsatility index(PI) of middle cerebral artery(MCA) was measured using Transcranial Doppler Flowmeter, before and 15 minutes after SGB, at block side and opposite side. The blood flow velocity of MCA at block side was increased from $62.60{\pm}7.60$ cm/s to $72.80{\pm}8.01$ cm/s(P<0.01) and the PI at block side decreased from $0.75{\pm}0.12$ to $0.60{\pm}0.11$(P<0.05). But the blood flow velocity and PI at opposite side did not change. This study demonstrated that the cerebral blood flow could be increased by SGB, the preganglionic nerve fibers of which synapse with other cervical sympathetic ganglions.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제2권1호
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• pp.16-20
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• 1989

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제4권1호
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• pp.1-7
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• 1991

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제8권2호
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• pp.328-330
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• 1995

A fourty-year-old housewife was admitted to the Department of Ear, Nose, and Throat from the emergency room, because of severe vertigo associated with positional changes of the head. Hallpike maneuver produced typical patterns of bilateral nystagmus consistent with benign paroxysmal positional vertigo(BPPV), and further geotropic rotatory nystagmus with positional change of the head in each direction. Direction of nystagmus reversed when the patients was repositioned upright. Particle repositioning maneuver was administered to her left ear but failed to relieve the severe dizziness associated with the head turning to the right. She was then referred to the patient received 27 SGB treatments and the patients was almost completely healed. It is unusual for the BPPV to occur bilaterally therefore reference concerning the effectiveness of SGB for the treatment of BPPV was difficult to obtain. In conclusion we would like to report the successful treatment of BPPV with SGB.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제13권2호
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• pp.187-190
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• 2000

Background: From our clinical experience, there were some problems in paratracheal stellate ganglion block at 6th cervical level (C 6 SGB), for example, lesser change in blood flow of the upper extremity and more occurrence of hoarseness. This study was undertaken to compare the various effectiveness of C 6 SGB and paratracheal stellate ganglion block at 7th cervical level (C 7 SGB). Methods: Forty patients were equally divided into 2 groups. In the Group I, patients were undertaken C 6 SGB with 0.25% bupivacaine 6 mL and in the Group II, patients were undertaken C 7 SGB with 0.25% bupivacaine 6mL. The skin temperature of index finger was measured before and after SGB and the warm sensation on face and upper extremity, hoarseness and upper extremity paralysis were studied. Results: The skin temperature of index finger was increased significantly from $33.95{\pm}0.89^{\circ}C$ to $34.51{\pm}0.90^{\circ}C$ in the Group I and from $33.94{\pm}0.82^{\circ}C$ to $35.38{\pm}0.66^{\circ}C$ in the Group II (P<0.05) The increase of skin temperature of index finger after procedure was $0.56{\pm}0.09^{\circ}C$ in the Group I and $1.44{\pm}0.02^{\circ}C$ in the Group II. The increase of skin temperature of index finger in the Group II was more statistically significant than Group I (P<0.05). The occurance of hoarseness in the Group II was significantly less than in the Group I. There was no significant difference in warm sensation on face and upper extremity and paralysis of upper extremity in both Groups. Conclusions: C 7 SGB showed better sympathetic block effect on upper extremity than C 6 SGB and hoarseness did not occur in C 7 SGB.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제20권2호
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• pp.246-250
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• 2007

We report here on a case of right side spasmodic torticollis (ST) that was refractory to botulinum toxin type A injection and medication. The patient finally underwent a selective ramisectomy with ipsilateral sternocleidomastoid muscle (SCM) resection, but the remaining symptoms slowly aggravated, and a contralateral left side SCM spasm began. As conservative therapy for reducing the spasmodic symptoms, accessory nerve block, upper cervical plexus block and stellate ganglion block were performed twice in a week. After 6 months, the spasmodic symptoms significantly decreased. The Toronto Western Spasmodic Torticollis Rating Scale (TWSTRS) decreased by more than 70%. After one year of serial intermittent local anesthetic blockade therapy, the patient became almost free from the original ST symptoms (TWSTRS = 1). Serial local anesthetic interventions for the ST patient may have a beneficial role on the pathological peripherocentral neural activity of the ST patient and can modulate motor-sensory integration in the patient.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• 제10권1호
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• pp.101-103
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• 1997

Common oral lesions of lichen planus (LP) are bilateral lace-like white patches in the buccal and lingual mucosae. Oral LP of chronic erosive and ulcerative forms develop carcinomas among approximately 1% of affected patients. A 64 year old male patient suffering from LP with early verrucous carcinoma on lips, tongue, and hard palate for approximately 8 years was refered to the pain clinic from department of dermatology. He complained of severe pain (VAS 9.5) on lips, oral cavity and left of the face. For 18 consecutive days we performed stellate ganglion blocks (SGB) with 6 ml on his left side of face. Patients pain decreased to (VAS 3.0) after 18 SGB. After a total of 31 SGB patient was discharged free of pain. pain recurred (VAS 3.5) 22 days after discharge. We then performed SGB, twice weekly and pain was effectively relieved after total 54 SGB. But patient needed to take oral analgesics due to nocturnal pain.