• Clinical Endoscopy
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• v.57 no.5
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• pp.571-580
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• 2024

Malignant gastric outlet obstruction (GOO) is a condition characterized by blockage or narrowing where the stomach empties its contents into the small intestine due to primary malignant tumors or metastatic diseases. This condition leads to various symptoms such as nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain, and weight loss. To manage malignant GOO, different treatment options have been employed, including surgical gastrojejunostomy (SGJ), gastroduodenal stenting (GDS) using self-expandable metallic stent (SEMS), and endoscopic ultrasound-guided gastrojejunostomy (EUS-GJ). This review focuses on comparing the clinical outcomes of endoscopic stenting (GDS and EUS-GJ) with SGJ for malignant GOO. Studies have shown that GDS with SEMS provides comparable clinical outcomes and safety for the palliation of obstructive symptoms. The choice between covered and uncovered SEMS remains controversial, as different studies have reported varying results. EUS-GJ, performed via endoscopic ultrasound guidance, has shown promising efficacy and safety in managing malignant GOO, but further studies are needed to establish it as the primary treatment option. Comparative analyses suggest that GDS has higher recurrence and reintervention rates compared to EUS-GJ and SGJ, with similar overall procedural complications. However, bleeding rates were lower with GDS than with SGJ. Randomized controlled trials are required to determine the optimal treatment approach for malignant GOO.

• The Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Ultrasound Society
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.13-19
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• 2014

Purpose: To evaluate the effectiveness of ultrasonography-guided combined multiple needling and high-energy extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) for calcific tendinitis of the shoulder. Materials and Methods: We included 42 calcific tendinitis patients who underwent ultrasonograpy-guided multiple needling followed by high-energy ESWT who visited the clinic from January 2010 to June 2013. The average follow up period was 45 weeks. Clinical evaluation was done before and after 12 weeks from treatment, in clinical terms using pain visual analogue scale (P-VAS), ASES, UCLA scores reflecting performance and symptom improvement, and in sonographic terms by studying the changes in size of the calcific nodules. Results: A statistically significant improvement was seen in P-VAS, ASES, UCLA scores and decreased calcification size on sonographic evaluation. Conclusion: Ultrasonography-guided combined multiple needling and high-energy ESWT is considered as a useful method which could provide clinical function improvement and reduction of calcification deposit.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.16 no.7
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• pp.935-942
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• 2022

In doing interventional treatment under the guidance of ultrasonography, the medical team detects the legion site with ultrasonic equipment at first, and insert angio needle. In this situation, if the position of legion and the depth of inserted needle on the ultrasonographic screen are different from real position and depth, the needle is likely to damage a major blood vessel or tissue. Accordingly, we had wondered how much such differences between screen image and reality, and so decided to examine them. Using five ultrasonographic equipments manufactured from different companies in different years, this study tried to compare the lengths of the needle on the screen images and real lengths of it, and find out the factors affecting skewness of them. This study used hog meat chunk to mimic human flesh, and sausages as the target of needle. It compared penetrating depths of the needle as the images on the five equipments using single sample t test in the SPSS 22 statistical program. It was found that all the errors were statistically significant(<.05). So, this study decided that it was wrong to evaluate performances of the equipments by the makers and ages of them. It is necessary to do periodic quality controls of equipments and improve the skillfulness of sonographers to reduce error rates between real treatment areas and the images of them.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Radiology
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• v.81 no.3
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• pp.719-725
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• 2020

Metastases to the thyroid gland have rarely been reported in clinical settings, and the thyroid gland is an uncommon site for breast carcinoma metastasis. We report a case of a 64-year-old breast cancer patient diagnosed with metastatic breast carcinoma in the thyroid gland after performing ultrasonography (US)-guided core needle biopsy (CNB) and subsequent total thyroidectomy. On US, the thyroid lesion appeared to be mildly enlarged with multiple internal hypoechoic lines and a few microcalcifications without mass formation. Under US-guidance, CNB was performed by targeting the area with microcalcifications and subsequently diagnosed as metastatic breast carcinoma. Total thyroidectomy revealed that the patient had metastatic invasive ductal carcinoma of the breast with lymphatic spread involving both lobes and the isthmus of the thyroid gland. Although the thyroid gland is an uncommon metastatic site, the unusual features of thyroid metastasis can be observed on US; thus, US-guided CNB effectively aids the diagnosis of thyroid metastasis.

• Korean Journal of Radiology
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• v.25 no.5
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• pp.438-448
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• 2024

Objective: To evaluate the therapeutic outcomes of no-touch radiofrequency ablation (NT-RFA) using twin cooled wet (TCW) electrodes in patients experiencing recurrent hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) after undergoing locoregional treatments. Materials and Methods: We conducted a prospective, single-arm study of NT-RFA involving 102 patients, with a total of 112 recurrent HCCs (each ≤ 3 cm). NT-RFA with TCW electrodes was implemented under the guidance of ultrasonography (US)-MR/CT fusion imaging. If NT-RFA application proved technically challenging, conversion to conventional tumor puncture RFA was permitted. The primary metric for evaluation was the mid-term cumulative incidence of local tumor progression (LTP) observed post-RFA. Cumulative LTP rates were estimated using the Kaplan-Meier method. Multivariable Cox proportional hazard regression was used to explore factors associated with LTP. Considering conversion cases from NT-RFA to conventional RFA, intention-to-treat (ITT; including all patients) and per-protocol (PP; including patients not requiring conversion to conventional RFA alone) analyses were performed. Results: Conversion from NT-RFA to conventional RFA was necessary for 24 (21.4%) out of 112 tumors. Successful treatment was noted in 111 (99.1%) out of them. No major complications were reported among the patients. According to ITT analysis, the estimated cumulative incidences of LTP were 1.9%, 6.0%, and 6.0% at 1, 2, and 3 years post-RFA, respectively. In PP analysis, the cumulative incidence of LTP was 0.0%, 1.3%, and 1.3% at 1, 2, and 3 years, respectively. The number of previous locoregional HCC treatments (adjusted hazard ratio [aHR], 1.265 per 1 treatment increase; P = 0.004), total bilirubin (aHR, 7.477 per 1 mg/dL increase; P = 0.012), and safety margin ≤ 5 mm (aHR, 9.029; P = 0.016) were independently associated with LTP in ITT analysis. Conclusion: NT-RFA using TCW electrodes is a safe and effective treatment for recurrent HCC, with 6.0% (ITT analysis) and 1.3% (PP analysis) cumulative incidence of LTP at 2 and 3-year follow-ups.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• v.58 no.4
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• pp.136-141
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• 2015

Purpose: Continuous intravenous access is imperative in emergency situations. Ultrasound-guided internal jugular vein (IJV) catheterization was investigated in critically ill pediatric patients to assess the feasibility of the procedure. Methods: Patients admitted to the pediatric intensive care unit between February 2011 and September 2012 were enrolled in this study. All patients received a central venous catheter from attending house staff under ultrasound guidance. Outcome measures included successful insertion of the catheter, cannulation time, number of cannulation attempts, and number and type of resulting complications. Results: Forty-one central venous catheters (93.2%) were successfully inserted into 44 patients (21 males and 23 females; mean age, $6.54{\pm}1.06$ years). Thirty-three patients (75.0%) had neurological disorders. The right IJV was used for catheter insertion in 34 cases (82.9%). The mean number of cannulation attempts and the mean cannulation time was $1.57{\pm}0.34$ and $14.07{\pm}1.91$ minutes, respectively, the mean catheter dwell time was $14.73{\pm}2.5$ days. Accidental catheter removal was observed in 9 patients (22.0%). Six patients (13.6%) reported complications, the most serious being catheter-related sepsis, which affected 1 patient (2.3%). Other complications included 2 reported cases of catheter malposition (4.6%), and 1 case each of arterial puncture (2.3%), pneumothorax (2.3%), and skin infection (2.3%). Conclusion: The results suggest that ultrasound-guided IJV catheterization can be performed easily and without any serious complications in pediatric patients, even when performed by visiting house staff. Therefore, ultrasound-guided IJV catheterization is strongly recommended for critically ill pediatric patients.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.25 no.2
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• pp.99-104
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• 2012

Background: Previous studies have shown that if performed without radiographic guidance, the loss of resistance (LOR) technique can result in inaccurate needle placement in up to 30% of lumbar epidural blocks. To date, no study has shown the efficacy of measuring the depth of the posterior complex (ligamentum flavum, epidural space, and posterior dura) ultrasonographically to distinguish true and false LOR. Methods: 40 cervical epidural blocks were performed using the LOR technique and confirmed by epidurograms. Transverse ultrasound images of the C6/7 area were taken before each cervical epidural block, and the distances from the skin to the posterior complex, transverse process, and supraspinous ligament were measured on each ultrasound view. The number of LOR attempts was counted, and the depth of each LOR was measured with a standard ruler. Correlation of false and true positive LOR depth with ultrasonographically measured depth was also statistically analyzed. Results: 76.5% of all cases (26 out of 34) showed false positive LOR. Concordance correlation coefficients between the measured distances on ultrasound (skin to ligamentum flavum) and actual needle depth were 0.8285 on true LOR. Depth of the true positive LOR correlated with height and weight, with a mean of $5.64{\pm}1.06cm$, while the mean depth of the false positive LOR was $4.08{\pm}1.00cm$. Conclusions: Ultrasonographic measurement of the ligamentum flavum depth (or posterior complex) preceding cervical epidural block is beneficial in excluding false LOR and increasing success rates of cervical epidural blocks.

• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.100-106
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• 2019

Background: In Korean medicine, carpal tunnel syndrome is treated by stimulating the acupoints around the wrist. Although a deep understanding of anatomy and guidance is needed to stimulate these acupoints to avoid undesirable side-effects, currently there are no published guidelines for acupotomy treatment. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effectiveness and safety of fluoroscopy-guided acupotomy compared with conventional acupotomy treatment. Methods: This is a randomized, patient-assessor, patient blind, parallel clinical trial. A total of 30 patients will be enrolled at Wonkwang University Gwangju Hospital, and will be allocated to either an experimental group or a control group. The experimental group will be treated using fluoroscopy-guided acupotomy and the control group will be treated using the conventional acupotomy method. Results: The primary outcome measure will be identification of a cross-section area of the median nerve measured by ultrasonography, and the secondary outcome measure will be the alleviation of pain measured by the Visual Analogue Scale, improvement in the Nerve Conduction Study, Tinel test, Phalen's test, EuroQol 5-dimension scale, and Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire score. Safety components will be measured by monitoring vital signs, electrocardiographs, blood tests, general chemical tests, urine tests and pregnancy tests. In addition, observations for adverse effects will be performed during the trial. Conclusion: This study will provide a more effective, and less harmful way of treating carpal tunnel syndrome compared with conventional acupotomy. Fluoroscopy-guided acupotomy will help practitioners to be accurate in direction and depth of the needle for treating carpal tunnel syndrome.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.65 no.2
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• pp.307-314
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• 2022

Objective : The percutaneous thread transection technique is a surgical dissecting method using a dissecting thread inserted through a needle under ultrasound guidance without skin incision. As the new dissecting threads were developed domestically, this cadaver study was conducted to compare the effectiveness and safety between the new threads (ultra V sswire and smartwire-01) and a pre-existing commercial dissecting thread (loop & shear) by demonstrating a modified looped thread cubital tunnel release. Methods : The percutaneous cubital tunnel release procedure was performed on 29 fresh cadaveric upper extremities. The pre-existing commercial thread was used in 5 upper extremities. The two newly developed threads were used in 24 upper extremities. Two practitioners performed the procedures separately. After the modified looped thread cubital release, anatomical and histological analyses were performed by a blinded anatomist. The presence of the dissected cubital tunnel and damaged adjacent soft tissue was assessed. Results : Out of the 29 cadaveric upper extremities, 27 specimens showed complete dissection of the Osborne ligament and the proximal fascia of the flexor carpi ulnaris muscle. One specimen was incompletely dissected in each of the ultra V sswire and smartwire-01 groups. There were no injuries of adjacent structures including the ulnar nerve, ulnar artery, medial antebrachial cutaneous nerve, or flexor tendon with either the commercial thread or the newly developed threads. The anatomical analysis revealed clear and sharp incisional margins of the cubital tunnel in the Smartwire-01 and loop & shear groups. All three kinds of threads maintained proper linear elasticity for easy handling during the procedure. The smartwire-01 provided higher visibility in ultrasound than the other threads. Conclusion : The newly developed threads were effective and safe for use in the thread cubital tunnel release procedure.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.36 no.2
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• pp.195-207
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• 2023

Background: This study aimed to compare the effectiveness of the pericapsular nerve group (PENG) block and intra-articular injection (IAI) of steroid-bupivacaine in the treatment of hip osteoarthritis (OA). Methods: After randomization, patients received either a PENG block or IAI under ultrasound-guidance. Clinical evaluations were recorded at baseline, day 1, and weeks 1, 4, and 8 post-intervention. The numerical rating scale (NRS), Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Arthritis Index (WOMAC), Harris Hip Scale (HHS) scores, pain medication use determined by a quantitative analgesic questionnaire, and patient satisfaction were evaluated. Results: Sixty patients were included in this study. NRS scores improved significantly for both groups during the follow-up compared to pretreatment (P < 0.001), with better pain scores for the PENG group (P < 0.001) at day 1 with larger effect size (Cohen's d = 4.62), and IAI group at 4 (Cohen's d = 5.15) and 8 (Cohen's d = 4.33) weeks (P < 0.001). There was no significant difference in pain medication consumption (P = 0.499) and patient satisfaction (P = 0.138) between groups. Patients in the IAI group experienced significant improvement in HHS (Cohen's d = 2.16, P = 0.007) and WOMAC (Cohen's d = 1.02, P = 0.036) scores at 8 weeks compared to the PENG group. Conclusions: The ultrasound-guided PENG block provides effective pain relief which improves functionality and quality of life in hip OA patients up to 2 months. The PENG block can be considered an easy, safe, and useful alternative treatment modality for hip OA.