• Journal of Preventive Medicine and Public Health
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• v.26 no.4 s.44
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• pp.650-660
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• 1993

This study aims to describe the causes of medically unnecessary hospital stay at a teaching tertiary hospital, using modified version of Delay Tool in which the causes of delay are divided into slx major categories : delay related to test scheduling, test results, surgery, medical staff, patient/family, and administration. For the analysis of hospital stay, 6,479 inpatient-days were reviewed in two medical and four surgical departments for one month. Initially inappropriate hospital stays were identified using Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP), and causes of delay listed in Delay Tool were assigned to each of them. In both medical and surgical services, the most important cause of delay was related to medical staffs, ranging from 3.6% to 51.6% of total inpatient days. Next important category was delay related to test scheduling in medical services ($4.7{\sim}9.2%$), and delay related to surgery in surgical services ($7.3{\sim}15.0%$). Among subcategories of delay related to medical staffs, delay due to conservative care was the most important cause of inappropriate hospital stay ($2.9{\sim}6.4%$). Each clinical departments had different distribution among delay categories, which could not be fully justified by their clinical charateristics. The Delay Tool would be helpful in exploring factors related to the inefficient use of hospital beds. As a measurement tool of inappropriate hospital stay, however, the Delay Tool should be refined in the definitions of categories and its contents.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.45 no.3
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• pp.253-258
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• 2018

Background The nasolabial flap is ideal for reconstruction of the nasal alar subunit due to its proximity, color and contour match, and well-placed donor scar. When raised as a random-pattern flap, there is a risk of vascular compromise to the tip with increased flap length and aggressive flap thinning. Surgical delay can greatly improve the chances of tip survival, allowing the harvest of longer flaps with greater reach. Methods We describe our technique of lengthening the nasolabial flap through multiple delay procedures. A bipedicled flap was first raised and then transferred as a unipedicled flap with a 6:1 length-to-width ratio. During the delay process, the flap tip was thinned to the subdermal layer. Results In our case series of seven patients, defects as far as the medial canthal area and contralateral ala were reconstructed successfully with no incidence of tip necrosis or flap loss. The resultant flaps were thin enough to be folded over for the reconstruction of alar rim defects. Conclusions We highlight the success of our surgical technique in creating thin and robust nasolabial flaps for the reconstruction of full-thickness defects around the nose.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.327-334
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• 2005

This study was designed to investigate the effect of the surgical delay in the prefabricated cutaneous flap. Abdominal skin flaps (n=40), $4.5{\times}6.0cm$ in size, were created by the subcutaneous implantation of a saphenous vascular tissue in the male Sprague-Dawley rats. In the groups 1 and 2, the pedicle was skeletonized. In the groups 3 and 4, perivascular muscle cuff or gracilis fascia was retained, respectively. Six weeks later, each flap was elevated as an island flap and reposed in place. All flaps of the group 2 had a 72-hours of delay period. Five days after the flap repositioning, estimation of flap viability, microangiographies, and histological evaluation of vessel development were performed. The groups 2 and 3 showed higher viability in flap survival. The dilated choke vessels and fully developed vascular network were observed in the flap of the group 2, but not typically seen in the other groups. New vessels around the implanted pedicle were more developed in the group 2. Amount of the vessels in the mid-portion of the flap was significantly increased in the groups 2 and 4. In conclusion, the delay procedure enhanced the viability, and its effect was dependent on the new vessel formation around the implanted pedicle.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.7 no.3
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• pp.44-62
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• 2002

Advanced surgical technology demands more precise, meticulous, and time-consuming procedures. In addition, the patient's preference of tertiary health providers makes over crowding of the University Hospitals. Therefore, it has been necessary to maximize utilization of the operating room of such hospitals to accommodate these requirements. This study, targeting 1,302 surgical cases performed in 22 operating rooms at a university hospital in Seoul from October 8 to November 1, 2001, analyzed reasons for delay, and factors that caused delayed use of operating rooms. This study also assessed that the rate of operating room use would increase if the sources for possible reform were improved. 1. Among total of 1,302 cases of surgery, the incidence of surgeries in which there were no time delays and no factors for delay were discovered is 71.4% or 930 cases: the incidence in which surgeries were delayed was 28.6% or 372 cases. 2. As results of logistic regression for delay, procedures involving women were delayed 1.4 times more frequently than those of men. Compared to Department A, Department B was 1.8 times more likely to be delayed, and Department H was 0.4 times less likely to be delayed. Regional anesthesia was 2.4 times more likely to be delayed than general anesthesia, and surgeries that PCA was applied were 0.6 times less likely to be delayed than those when it was not. Surgeries performed on the Thursday were 1.7 times more likely to be delayed than those performed on the Monday. Compared to surgeries performed between 07:00-07:59, those performed between 08:00-08:29 were 4.3 times higher. 3. The reasons for delay were related to surgeon, surgical department, patient, anesthesia, administrative system, sick ward, and support services. Among these, 5,755 minutes for 276 delayed cases could be resolved easily, and resolving delays of 3,320 minutes for 131 cases would be more difficult. Among the causes for delay that could be improved, delays due to patient's transfer and surgeon's factor were the most common, 21.6% and 17.4% respectively. 4. If resolvable delays are improved, pre-anesthesia room is administered, and regional anesthesia and PCA are done ahead of time, use of emergency operating rooms will increase, we can increase overall utilization by 4.09%, we will save 744 minutes a day, we can reduce the time the operation room is used after 4 PM by 35%, and we can resolve the operation cancellations due to insufficient operating rooms. For the increase in the use of operating rooms, we need to maximally decrease the delays that could be improved, by allocating block time based on used totals hours of elective cases, giving accurate information on surgery schedule, voluntary cooperation by staff participating in surgeries in reducing delay time, and the hospital management's will to improve delay.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.66-76
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• 2023

Endoscopy is an important noninvasive procedure for patients with gastrointestinal problems. However, surgical techniques are shifting to laparoscopic surgery, and changes in endoscopic findings after laparoscopic surgery differ from those after previous surgical methods. Postoperative endoscopic findings differ from normal anatomical structures, and findings reportedly vary depending on the type of surgical technique. Therefore, we aimed to summarize the surgical and endoscopic findings for each surgical method from the surgeon's point of view. The causes of gastric emptying delay, bleeding, afferent loop syndrome, or anastomosis leakage occurring after gastric cancer surgery can be identified via upper gastrointestinal endoscopy that is relatively less invasive than the surgical method. Regarding postoperative anastomosis leakage, endoscopy can directly evaluate the degree of leakage at the anastomosis site more accurately than computed tomography and enable immediate intervention. As endoscopy is less invasive than the surgical method, patients can be evaluated and treated more safely. However, coordination between the surgeon and the endoscopist is necessary to perform the procedures effectively. Therefore, reviewing the changes in surgical and endoscopic findings is important.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.35 no.3
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• pp.146-152
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• 2009

Traditional surgical method or injection using filler is performed for soft tissue augmentation. Surgical methods have disadvantage of surgical morbidity. Commercially available injectable materials have the disadvantages such as resorption, short-term effect. repeated application and hypersensitivity. Significant shortcoming of cell therapy using autologous fibroblasts is delay of treatment effect. Chitosan/${\beta}$-glycerol phosphate (GP) solution has thermosensitive property and allows sol-gel transition at physiologic pH and temperature. These properties may resolve the delay of treatment effect. The purposes of this study are to evaluate the viscosity and pH changes of chitosan/${\beta}$-GP solutions and to evaluate the effect of chitosan/${\beta}$-GP solution on fibroblast proliferation and production of collagen. We measured the viscosity and pH as function of temperature, of the solution containing 1:0.7, 1:0.75, 1:0.8 chitosan (1, 10, 100, 700 kDa) /${\beta}$-GP. Fibroblasts from ears of 5 rats were cultured in chitosan/${\beta}$-GP solutions for 3 weeks. Cell proliferation and collagen contents were measured every week with WST (water-soluble tetrazolium salt) assay and Collagen assay respectively. The Results are 1) Chitosan(100 kDa<)/${\beta}$-GP solution (1:0.75) showed sol-gel transition at physiologic pH and body temperature and injectable properties. It will enable to resolve the delay in treatment effect 2) Cell proliferation and total collagen contents of the control group were increased with time. However, these decreased after the 1st week in experimental group 3) Collagen contents in the experimental group are higher than that of control group. Chitosan/${\beta}$-GP solution may provide favorable conditions for cell function

• Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention
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• v.14 no.12
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• pp.7409-7414
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• 2013

Background: Delay in diagnosis of breast cancer is associated with a poorer survival and a pivotal contribution to this delayed diagnosis comes from patient delay in presenting at a clinic. Reasons involved must be evaluated in order to decrease this reducible delay. Objectives: i) To evaluate the reasons for patient delay in diagnosis of breast cancer; ii) to investigate any association with other variables. Materials and Methods: A 6 month cross sectional study (from July 2012 to Dec 2012), was carried out in Surgical and Oncology Units of Civil Hospital, Karachi. A total of 100 females diagnosed with breast cancer of any histological type were interviewed after informed consent and relevant data were collected. Due ethical clearance was obtained. Results: Mean age was $47.5{\pm}12.1$ years with a range from 25-77 years. Mean duration of delay was $5.13{\pm}4.8$ months, from shortest 1 month to longest 36 months. Duration of delay was observed to be no delay (<1 month) in 28%, short delay (1-3 months) in 30% and long delay (>3 months) in 42% of patients. Considering the symptoms as "harmless" (39%) was the most frequent reason of delay followed by "temporary" (20%) and the "use of traditional methods" (12%). Most common reason for later approaches was an increase in the size of the lump (41%). Statistically significant association (p-value <0.05) of longer patient delay was obtained with being single, being illiterate, painless breast lump as the first symptom, negative family history of breast cancer and vague attribution of the symptoms. Conclusions: Significant delay in approach to health care facility was observed in our study due to variable reasons given by women. Sufficient awareness regarding breast cancer, its symptoms and favorable effects of a timely diagnosis on prognosis must be imparted to our general population.

• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.163-168
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• 2007

Purpose: The flap delay is a widely used technique to increase the flap survival. Dexamethasone is a well-known drug to have a positive impact on the flap survival. The objective of this study is to investigate the dual synergic effect of epinephrine as a chemical delay agent plus dexamethasone on the TRAM flap survival in rat model. Methods: Forty Sparague-Dawley rats were divided into 4 groups evenly and a right inferior epigastic vessel pedicled TRAM flap, sized $5.0{\times}3.0cm$, was elevated on each upper abdomen. In the control group(N=10), 2 ml saline was injected on transverse abdominis muscle for a week before the flap elevation. In surgical delay group(N=10) all superior pedicles and left inferior pedicle were ligated a week before the flap elevation. In epinephrine group (N=10), 1 : 50000 epinephrine mixed saline was injected to transverse abdominis muscle every day for a week before flap elevation. In epinephrine plus dexamethasone group (N=10), the same procedure as that of epinephrine group was conducted for a week and 2.5 ml/kg dexamethasone was injected transverse abdominis muscle 2 hours before the flap elevation. On the seventh day after flap elevation, the survival area of flaps were measured and the vessel numbers in upper dermis of flap were counted through histologic slides. Results: The results were as follows: the mean percentage of the flap survival area of surgical delay group ($60.5{\pm}2.44%$), epinephrine group ($75{\pm}4.43%$), and epinephrine plus dexamethasone group ($87{\pm}1.94%$) were higher than that of the control group ($35{\pm}6.06%$) significantly(p<0.05). In case of the vessel number though histologic slides, epinephrine group ($79.3{\pm}5.57$) and epinephrine plus dexamethasone group ($96.3{\pm}14.05$) were higher than that of the control group ($44.8{\pm}8.82$) significantly(p<0.05), but the surgical delay group ($54{\pm}4.23$) showed no significant difference (p>0.05) compared to that of the control group. Conclusion: The results indicated that epinephrine plus dexamethasone injection before the flap elevation could be used to increase the TRAM flap survival area in rat model.

• Archives of Craniofacial Surgery
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.99-103
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• 2024

Because facial nerve injuries affect the quality of life, leaving them untreated can have devastating effects. The number of patients with traumatic and iatrogenic facial nerve paralysis is considerably high. Early detection and prompt treatment during the acute injury phase are crucial, and immediate surgical treatment should be considered when complete facial nerve injury is suspected. Symptom underestimation by patients and clinical misdiagnosis may delay surgical intervention, which may negatively affect outcomes and in some cases, impair the recovery of the injured facial nerve. Here, we report two cases of facial nerve injury that were treated with nerve grafts during the subacute phase. In both cases, subacute facial nerve grafting achieved significant improvements. These cases highlight surgical intervention in the subacute phase using nerve grafts as an appropriate treatment for facial nerve injuries.

• 대한미세수술학회:학술대회논문집
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• 1993.10a
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• pp.100.1-100.1
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• 1993