• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.114-123
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• 2021

Background: Evaluation of the effectiveness of caudal epidural injection on pain, spine mobility, disease activity, and activity of daily living in axial spondyloarthritis (SpA) patients. Methods: A total sample of 47 patients were registered in this study. They were randomly assigned into 2 groups; Group I received caudal epidural injections, ultrasound-guided, with 1% lidocaine hydrochloride mixed with triamcinolone, whereas Group II did not receive any injections. All participants fulfilled the ASAS criteria for axial SpA. Outcome measures were as follows: visual analogue scale, Oswestry disability index (ODI), modified Schober test, lateral lumbar flexion, and Ankylosing Spondylitis Disease Activity Score (ASDAS) with assessment at baseline, 2 weeks, and 8 weeks post-treatment. This clinical trial was registered on clinicaltrials.gov under the number NCT04143165. Results: There was a significant difference between both groups regarding pain, ODI, spine mobility and ASDAS scores in favor of group I. This effect was at its maximum after 2 weeks. Despite the decline of this effect after 2 months, the difference between the groups remained significant. Higher disease activity, younger age, and shorter disease duration were associated with better outcomes. Conclusions: Epidural injection of lidocaine and triamcinolone is a cost effective and a practical technique for controlling pain, as well as improving the function of the spine and disease activity scores in axial SpA patients with acceptable complications and relatively sustained effect.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.158-163
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• 2016

Background: Phenol and alcohol have been used to ablate nerves to treat pain but are not specific for nerves and can damage surrounding soft tissue. Lidocaine at concentrations > 8% injected intrathecal in the animal model has been shown to be neurotoxic. Tests the hypothesis that 10% lidocaine is neurolytic after a peri-neural blockade in an ex vivo experiment on the canine sciatic nerve. Methods: Under ultrasound, one canine sciatic nerve was injected peri-neurally with 10 cc saline and another with 10 cc of 10% lidocaine. After 20 minutes, the sciatic nerve was dissected with gross inspection. A 3 cm segment was excised and preserved in 10% buffered formalin fixative solution. Both samples underwent progressive dehydration and infusion of paraffin after which they were placed on paraffin blocks. The sections were cut at $4{\mu}m$ and stained with hemoxylin and eosin. Microscopic review was performed by a pathologist from Henry Ford Hospital who was blinded to which experimental group each sample was in. Results: The lidocaine injected nerve demonstrated loss of gross architecture on visual inspection while the saline injected nerve did not. No gross changes were seen in the surrounding soft tissue seen in either group. The lidocaine injected sample showed basophilic degeneration with marked cytoplasmic vacuolation in the nerve fibers with separation of individual fibers and endoneurial edema. The saline injected sample showed normal neural tissue. Conclusions: Ten percent lidocaine causes rapid neurolytic changes with ultrasound guided peri-neural injection. The study was limited by only a single nerve being tested with acute exposure.

• Imaging Science in Dentistry
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• v.49 no.4
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• pp.301-306
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• 2019

Purpose: This report presents a procedure for performing power Doppler ultrasound-guided sialography using the phenomenon of increased blood flow and illustrates its application to practical patient cases. Materials and Methods: The salivary gland was scanned using ultrasound equipment (GE LOGIQ5 Expert^® device; GE Medical Systems, Milwaukee, WI, USA) to identify pathological findings related to the patient's chief complaint. To identify the orifice of the main duct, it should be cannulated using a lacrimal dilator. After inserting the catheter into the cannulated main duct, the position of the catheter within the duct was confirmed by ultrasound. A contrast agent was injected until the patient felt fullness, and ultrasound (B-mode) was used to confirm whether the contrast agent filled the main canal and secondary and tertiary ducts. Then, power Doppler ultrasound was performed to determine whether the salivary gland had increased blood flow. Results: In 2 cases in this report, a power Doppler ultrasound scan showed a significant increase in blood flow after contrast medium injection, which was not observed on a preoperative scan. Conclusion: Power Doppler ultrasound was found to be a simple, safe, and effective tool for real-time sialography monitoring.

• Clinics in Shoulder and Elbow
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.166-171
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• 2021

Background: This study aims to compare the clinical outcomes of steroid injections during the rehabilitation period after arthroscopic rotator cuff repair (ACRC). Methods: Among patients who underwent ARCR, 117 patients who met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled. Pain and range of motion (ROM) recovery at the 3-, 6-, and 24-month follow-up visits and functional outcome at the 24-month follow-up were compared between 45 patients who received ultrasound-guided subacromial steroid injection at postoperative week 4 or 6 and 72 patients who did not. Functional outcome was assessed using the American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons (ASES) score and Constant score. Healing of the repaired tendon and retear were observed at the 6-month follow-up via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or computed tomography (CT) arthrography. Results: At the 3-month follow-up, the steroid injection group showed lower visual analog scale scores than the control group (p<0.05) and showed faster recovery of forward flexion and internal rotation (p<0.05). From the 6-month follow-up, the two groups did not show differences in pain and ROM, and the ASES score and Constant score also did not significantly differ at the 24-month follow-up. The two groups did not differ in retear rate as determined by MRI or CT arthrography at the 6-month follow-up. Conclusions: This study demonstrated that ultrasound-guided subacromial steroid injection at 4 or 6 weeks after ARCR leads to quick pain reduction and ROM recovery until 3 months after surgery. Therefore, subacromial steroid injection is speculated to be an effective and relatively safe method to assist rehabilitation.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.36 no.1
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• pp.128-136
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• 2023

Background: The authors aimed to compare the effects of a one-time ultrasound (US)-guided subacromial corticosteroid injection and three-time ozone (O₂-O₃) injection in patients with chronic supraspinatus tendinopathy. Methods: Participants were randomly assigned to the corticosteroid group (n = 22) or ozone group (n = 22). Injections in both groups were administered into subacromial bursa with an US-guided in-plane posterolateral approach. Primary outcome measure was the change in the Western Ontario Rotator Cuff Index (WORC) score between baseline and 12-weeks post-injection. Secondary outcome measures included visual analog scale and Shoulder Pain and Disability Index scores. Assessments were recorded at baseline, and 4-weeks and 12-weeks post-injection. Results: Forty participants completed this study. Based on repeated measurement analysis of variance, a significant effect of time was found for all outcome measures in both groups. Both the groups showed clinically significant improvements in shoulder pain, quality of life, and function. Baseline, 4-week post-injection, and 12-week post-injection WORC scores (mean ± standard deviation) were 57.91 ± 18.97, 39.10 ± 20.50 and 37.22 ± 27.31 in the corticosteroid group, respectively and 69.03 ± 15.89, 39.11 ± 24.36, and 32.26 ± 24.58 in the ozone group, respectively. However, no significant group × time interaction was identified regarding all outcome measures. Conclusions: Three-time ozone injection was not superior to a one-time corticosteroid injection in patients with chronic supraspinatus tendinopathy. It might be as effective as corticosteroid injection at 4-weeks and 12-weeks post-injection in terms of relieving pain and improving quality of life and function.

• The Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Ultrasound Society
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• v.4 no.2
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• pp.77-83
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• 2011

Purpose: We compared with USG-guided steroid injection group and blind steroid injection group for the treatment of calcific tendinitis to evaluate the effectiveness of the treatment modalities. Materials and Methods: We reviewed two groups of calcific tendinitis treated with steroid injection and follow up upto 6 month after injection. Group I was blind injection for 88 patient with average age of 53years old and female gender in 77%. Group II was USG- guided injection for 102 patients with average age of 54years old and female gender in 85%. We compared follow up results according to age, gender, size of tendon involvement, initial VAS score, and phase of the calcific tendinitis between two groups. Results: At 6 month's follow up period, USG-guided injected group was more prevalent compared to blind injection group with 92%(94/102) and 72%(64/88) (P<0.05). In Group I, 77%(49/64) patients have improved symptom. And in Group II, 92%(86/94) patients have improved symptom in formative or resorptive phase. Despite of symptom improvement, calcium deposit is remained 47%(30/64) in Group I, and 20%(19/94) in Group II. Conclusion: Conservative treatment of Shoulder calcific tendinitis patients through USG-guided injection is more effective than Blind injection in pain relief & calcium decrease. The patients USG-guided injected group was more prevalent in follow up at outpatient clinic, throughout more accurate injection with improved confidence.

• The Journal of Korean Orthopaedic Ultrasound Society
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• v.2 no.2
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• pp.85-89
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• 2009

Purpose: To analyze the clinical outcome after ultrasound guided multiple dry needlings and local steroid injection for acute calcific tendinitis of shoulder. Materials and Methods: Twenty patients with acute episode of pain by calcific tendinitis of shoulder with average age 58.2 (50~70 years) and follow-up of 18 months in average (range, 12~24) were included in study. There were 18 patients with right and 2 with left sided involvement. All patients had calcific deposits in the supraspinatus tendon. All patients underwent standardized nonoperative treatment protocol, consisting of 5~12 MHz high resolution ultrasound guided multiple dry needlings with 18 guage needle, followed by 2% lidocaine 1cc and 40 mg/ml depomedrol 1cc injection at site of calcific tendinitis. The outcome was assessed by UCLA shoulder score, range of motion and VAS score. A statistical analysis with ANOVA and Tukey's post-hoc test with the significance level at 5% was performed using SAS 9.1 software (SAS Institute, Cary, NC). Results: All patients got continuous relief of pain right after the procedures until final follow-up. Before the procedures, the UCLA scores were fair in 15 patients and poor in 5. After the procedures, the UCLA scores were excellent in 16 patients and good in 4. All cases revealed no limitation of shoulder function. The average VAS score decreased from 8.9 before the procedures to 0.5 at final follow-up (p<0.0001). No complication was encountered. Conclusion: An ultrasound guided local steroid injections following multiple dry needlings would be one of the useful treatment modality for the acute calcific tendinitis of shoulder.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.234-240
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• 2009

Background: The purpose of this study was to compare the analgesic effect of 0.25% and 0.5% levobupivacaine for real time ultrasound guided single-injection femoral nerve block for the patients who are undergoing bilateral total knee arthroplasty (TKA). Methods: Femoral nerve block was done to all patients with 20 ml of 0.9% normal saline on one leg and 20 ml of 0.25% levobupivacaine on the other leg for group I (n = 16) and 0.5% levobupivacaine for group II (n = 15) with 1:200,000 epinephrine and using real-time ultrasound and a nerve stimulator. The data concerning the verbal numerical rating scale (VNRS) for each leg, the consumption of the intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV PCA) and the demands for the additional analgesics was collected at 0, 1, 6, 12, 24 and 48 hours after the operation. Results: The legs on which femoral nerve block was done with levobupivacaine showed a lower VNRS score than the legs with normal saline in either group I or group II. The VNRS scores between the two legs, the consumption of the IV PCA and the demand for additional analgesics showed no significant differences between the groups. Conclusions: Our results demonstrate that single-injection femoral nerve block using real-time ultrasound with either 0.25% levobupivacaine or 0.5% levobupivacaine 20 ml provides a good effect for the postoperative pain control after TKA.

• Korean Journal of Animal Reproduction
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.77-82
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• 2000

This study was conducted to establish the methods of ultrasound-guided transvaginal retrieval of oocytes (ovum pick-up) in Korean native, Hanwoo Heifers. To obtain the basic data about Hanwoo, the size of ovaries in luteal and follicular phases were measured and the number of follicles in ovaries during the estrus cycle was counted by using ultrasound. And to determine the effective anesthetic to Hanwoo, various mixture of anesthetic compounds, Rompun(equation omitted), lidocaine, Monzal(equation omitted), and Domosedan(equation omitted), were treated. The size of Hanwoo ovaries were not significant differently between luteal and follicular phases. The number of medium and small follicles were peak on day 3 and 12 of the estrous cycle, and this result suggested that Hanwoo has 2 follicular growth waves per estrus cycle. The most effective anesthetic method was intramuscular injection of a.3m! Rompun(equation omitted), epidural injection of 5$m\ell$ lidocaine and sprayed cervix by 2$m\ell$ lidocaine.

• Clinical Pain
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.141-144
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• 2021

There are some cases of myofascial pain syndrome (MPS) with chronic upper back pain that does not respond to dry needling or trigger point injection, well-known treatments for MPS. A 67-year-old female developed a stabbing upper back pain with trigger point at left T7~8 levels 10 years ago. She complained of the pain with Numeral Rating Scale (NRS) 8 points. Myofascial release technique and trigger point injection had no effect. Under ultrasound guidance 20 ml of 1% lidocaine was injected into thoracic paravertebral space. Immediately, the pain was reduced to NRS 4 points. One week later, the second block was performed in the same way as the first, and the pain was reduced to NRS 2 points. The stabbing pain disappeared, and oral opioids were discontinued. Ultrasound guided thoracic paravertebral space block is an effective and safe treatment for refractory MPS with chronic upper back pain.