• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.286-292
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• 1995

Buerger's disease(Thromboangiitis Obliterans) is characterized by peripheral arterial occlusion of the extremities in young smokers, and leading to ischemia of the tissue and gangrene. Most of these patients suffered from severe pain. therapy for Buerger's disease not enable to undergo reconstructive arterial surgery has been discouraging while multiple modes of analgesics have advanced. Eight subjects who had been operated due to Buerger's disease or diagnosed with this disease were evaluated retrospectively. Continuous epidural block was done at L 2~3 or L3~4 intervertebral space and multiday continuous infusor was connected to epidural catheter. The content of the infusor was clonidine-bupivacaine or clonidine-morphine-bupivacaine mixture. The minimum dose of clonidine was 75 ${\mu}g/day$ and the maximum 450 ${\mu}g/day$. The results were as follows: The analgesia produced by clonidine was superior to any other analgesics. 2) The incidence of the side effects produced by clonidine-bupivacaine mixture were less than that of clonidine-morphine-bupivacaine mixture. 3) Minimum dose of clonidine for the pain relief was required more than 225 ${\mu}g$ per day. From the above results, we recommend that clonidine is an effective agent to provide pain relief for the patients with Buerger's disease.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.294-298
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• 1998

The feature of neuropathic pain may occur in the absence of any apparent stimulus and be exaggerated in either amplitude or duration. Peripheral nerve injury may produce neuropathic pain and opioids have been shown to be relatively unsatisfactory for the treatment of most cases of neuropathic pain. The NMDA receptor system is involved in transmission and modulation of nociceptive information. We treated patients with severe pain, hyperaesthesia and allodynia with epidural injection of NMDA receptor antagonist, ketamine (10 mg) and morphine (0.5 mg) or other opioid. The combinations provided effective pain management in 23 patients with neuropathic pain.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.11 no.2
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• pp.314-316
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• 1998

Psoas compartment block has been used to provide anesthesia and analgesia of hip joint. This block is advocated for relief of pain of various origins in the thigh, leg and lumbar area. A-40-year-old women complained of pain in the left thigh and lumbar area after operation of the second lumbar vertebral compression fracture. To relieve pain, caudal block was performed. This block reduced in lumbar pain but left thigh pain persisted. So, we were performed psoas compartment block using mepivacaine and dexamethasone, which relieved the pain in the left thigh and lumbar area. We recommend psoas compartment block as useful and simple method for patients with thigh and lumbar area pain, especially when the epidural block is not feasible.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.3 no.1
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• pp.44-50
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• 1990

Epidural injection of narcotics for postoperative pain relief has been well reported. Caudal nalbuphine was assessed as a postoperative analgesic in a randomized double blind study of 80 patients after perianal surgery. Caudal block was carried out with 1.5% lidocaine 25 ml (Group 1) in 20 patients, and mixed with nalbuphine 3 mg (Group 2) in 20 patients, nalbuphine 5 mg (Group 3) in 20 patients, and nalbuphine 10 mg (Group 4) in 20 patients. Pain relief was evaluated by the subsquent need for systemic analgesics (Pethidine). In group 4, the use of systemic analgesics was significantly reduced for the first 24 hours postoperatively. Urinary retention was not correlated with nalbuphin dose.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.1 no.1
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• pp.64-73
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• 1988

Recent studios have shown that narcotic drags produce an unusually intense, prolonged and segmental analgesic action in man whoa injected into the spinal subarachnoid or epidural space (Wang et al, 1979; Behar et al, 1979; Cousins et al, 1979; Magora et a., 1980, Johnston and McCaughey, 1980). Since 1960, many investigators claimed that low molecular weight(LMW) dextran increased the clinical duration of lidocaine(Loder, 1960; Loder, 1962), tetracaine (Chinn and Wirjoatmadja, 1967) and bupivacaine(Kaplan et al, 1975) in man but the mechanism of the action of dextran was unclear. But Curtiss and Scurlock(1979), and Buckled and Fink(1979) claimed that LMW dextran has no effect on the duration of action of bupivacaine in animal studies. The present study was performed to evaluate the clinical efficacy of analgesia by the thoracic epidural injection of morphine and bupivacaine mixture for the relief of pain due to fractured or contused ribs, to evaluate the duration of analgesic effect by the use of the above mixture in a hypertonic solution(dextran 70 or 50% dextrose in water) and to observe the possibility of improvement in the lung function after the pain block. The complications following the pain block were also observed. The 50 single thoracic epidural injections of the mixture were divided into three groups : Group 1(n=15) served as a control group and drags used for the relief of pain were as follows(Mean$\pm$S.D.): morphine($2.13{\pm}1.64\;mg$), 0.5% bupivacaine($3.10{\pm}1.04\;ml$) and 0.9% saline($3.64{\pm}1.11\;ml$). Group 2(n=16) serves as an experimental group and drugs were as follows(Mean$\pm$S.D.): morphine($2.13{\pm}0.72\;mg$), 0.5% bupivacaine($3.06{\pm}0.77\;ml$) and dextran 70($3.75{\pm}1.29\;ml$). Group 3 (n=19) served as an experimental group and drags were as follows(Mean$\pm$S.D.) : morphine($2.42{\pm}0.51\;mg$), 0.5% bupivacaine($3.21{\pm}0.71\;ml$) and 50% dextrose in water($3.58{\pm}1.11\;ml$). The results are were follows: 1) The Dumber of patients who obtained excellent and good analgesic effects following the block were greater in the experimental Croup 2(94%) and Group 3 (90%) than theme of the control Group 1 (80%). 2) The duration of pain relief which lasted more than 3 days after the epidural block was longer in the experimental Group 2 (81%) and Group 3 (75%) than those of the control Croup 1(67%). 3) The pulmonary reserve(FVC%+FEV 1.0%) of 27 cases who were treated by the pain block between 1 and 31 drys following the chest injury was increased to about 13% than those before the block, and that of 13 cases between 32 and 82 days following the chest injury was decreased to about 4% than those before the block. 4) Of the complications following the pain block, there were 5 cased(10%) of nausea within 2 hours following the block, 4 cases(8%) of vomiting after 2 hours following the block, 10 cases(20%) of pruritus after 3~4 hours following the block, 17 cases(34%) of transient urinary retention which tasted 8 to 19 hours, 3 cases(6%) of headache within 2 hoers following the block and 2 cases(4%) of dural puncture. In conclusion, it is suggested that the clinical duration of analgesic effect produced by morphine and bupivacaine mixture can be prolonged by addition of the hypertonic solution to the mixture.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.75-82
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• 1996

Background: Nerve blocks, including epidural analgesia, can be risky for terminal cancer pain patients in generally poor conditions. We performed this study to evaluate the efficacy of intravenous patient-controlled analgesia(PCA) to treat severe pain of terminally ill cancer patients during the last days of life. Methods: We explained the patient's poor general condition to relatives and received a written consent to administer PCA. The starting dose of opioid for PCA in cancer pain management was based on previous 24-hour dose. Previous 24-hour opioid dose was converted to intramuscular morphine equivalent. The concentration of opioid mixed into Basal Bolus $Infusor^{(R)}$ was controlled to allow for one half of the previous 24-hour equianalgesic dose to infuse continuously. Patients controlled their pain by pushing the PCA module themselves. Patients were observed by pain service team. Some discharged patients were treated at home until death. Results: Forty eight patients received PCA for last two years. The most common reason receiving a PCA was the patient's poor general condition(52.0%). The mean starting dose of PCA was $20.6{\pm}16.2$ mg of morphine. Over eighty percents of the patients were in good or tolerable state of analgesia. Half of the patients expired within one week. The mean duration of PCA was $8.7{\pm}7.0$ days. The problems during PCA were: difficulty in maintaining intravenous routes, early loss of mentality after starting PCA, hypotension and nausea. Conclusion: We concluded that PCA, if correctly, is an effective, relatively safe and readily controllable method of pain management in terminally ill cancer patients during the last days of life. For future considerations, terminal patients may expire at the comfort of their own homes after the resolution of legal problems regarding using opioid in home care.

• Women's Health Nursing
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.137-145
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• 2023

Purpose: This non-randomized study was performed to evaluate the effects of music therapy on labor pain, the childbirth experience, and self-esteem in women during vaginal delivery. Methods: In total, 136 primiparous women over 37 weeks of gestation receiving epidural analgesia during vaginal delivery were recruited via convenience sampling. To minimize diffusion effects, data from the control group (n=71) were collected first (April 2020 to March 2021), followed by data from the music group (n=65; April 2021 to May 2022). Participants in the music group listened to classical music during labor, while the control group was offered usual care (no music). Labor pain was measured using a numeric rating scale (NRS), and self-esteem and childbirth experience were collected using self-report questionnaires. Data were analyzed using the independent t-test, chi-square test and Cronbach's α coefficients. Results: The overall pain level (NRS) at baseline was 0 in both groups. Mothers in the music therapy group had lower levels of latent pain (t=1.95, p=.005), active pain (t=3.69, p<.001) and transition-phase pain (t=7.07, p<.001) than the control group. A significant difference was observed between the two groups, and the music therapy group expressed more positive perceptions of the childbirth experience (t=-1.36, p=.018). For self-esteem, the experimental group's score was slightly higher, but without a statistically significant difference from the control group. Conclusion: Using music therapy during labor decreased labor pain and improved the childbirth experience. Music therapy can be clinically recommended as a non-pharmacological, safe, and easy method for nursing care in labor.

• Journal of East-West Nursing Research
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• v.17 no.2
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• pp.96-102
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• 2011

Purpose: Patient-controlled epidural analgesia (PCEA) is an effective method for controlling post surgical pain. However, it is associated with adverse drug reactions such as nausea and vomiting. In this, study we tested the effects of Nei-Guan (P6) acupressure on PCEA-associated nausea, vomiting, and pain in geriatric patients after total knee replacement arthroplasty (TKRA). Methods: Ninety-nine patients who had TKRA for the first time were randomly assigned to either, experiment group (n=50) or control groups (n=49). All patients received PCEA immediately after surgery, but acupressure on Nei-Guan (P6) point was applied to experiment group only. Ten minutes of finger acupressure on Nei-Guan (P6) acupressure point was applied twice with 15 minute-interval in the experiment group. The incidence of nausea, vomiting, and retching as well as pain intensity were assessed at 12 and 24 hours after surgery. Nausea, and vomiting were assessed by Index of Nausea, Vomiting and Retching (INVR) questionnaire. Pain intensity was measured with frequency of analgesics. Results: Vomiting both was significantly different between two groups at 12 hours (t=-2.18, p=0.03) and 24 hours (t=-2.64, p=0.01) after surgery. Total scores of nausea, vomiting and retching in experimental group was significantly lower than control group 24hours after surgery (t=-2.18, p=0.03). However, pain was not different between two groups. Conclusion: Nei-Guan (P6) acupressure may be considered as an effective nursing intervention to decrease PCEA-associated nausea and vomiting in older patients after TKRA.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.135-139
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• 1996

Intercostal nerve blockade with local anesthetics has been used extensively in the past to provide pain relief following thoracotomy. Its popularity fell, for a period, probably due to increasing use of epidural analgesia. More recently, interest has focused on intercostal nerve block with the introduction of variously sited catheters. Two epidural catheters were placed under direct vision, in the intercostal spaces just above and below the wound by feeding the catheters posteriorly from the wound edges, superficial to the parietal pleura. Bupivacaine 0.25%. Was infused continuously at a rate of 5 ml/hour through each of the two intercostal catheters. Each catheter was primed with 10 ml/hour through each of the two intercostal catheters. Each catheter was primed with 10 ml of 0.25% bupivacaine. Postoperative vital signs resembled preoperation data. Arterial carbon dioxide pressure ($PaCO_2$) was unchanged and arterial oxygen pressure ($PaO_2$) was increased during two days after surgery because oxygen was administered at 21/min. Forced vital capacities (FVC) and forced expiratory volume in 1 second ($FEV_1$) were decreased the day of operation but restored to preoperative value from second operation day. VAS were increased on operation day but decreased from second operation day. Motion range of arms were not impaired. We concluded that continuous intercostal nerve block through catheters placed during thoracotomy in the adjacent intercostal spaces is a simple and effective method for management of the post-thoracotomy pain.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.45-51
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• 2015

Background: Arthroscopic shoulder operations (ASS) are often associated with severe postoperative pain. Nerve blocks have been studied for pain in shoulder surgeries. Interscalene brachial plexus blocks (ISB) and an intra-articular injection (IA) have been reported in many studies. The aim of the present study is to evaluate the effect of ISB, a continuous cervical epidural block (CCE) and IA as a means of postoperative pain control and to study the influence of these procedures on postoperative analgesic consumption and after ASS. Methods: Fifty seven patients who underwent ASS under general anesthesia were randomly assigned to one of three groups: the ISB group (n = 19), the CCE group (n = 19), and the IA group (n = 19). Patients in each group were evaluated on a postoperative numerical rating scale (NRS), their rescue opioid dosage (ROD), and side effects. Results: Postoperative NRSs were found to be higher in the IA group than in the ISB and CCE groups both at rest and on movement. The ROD were $1.6{\pm}2.3$, $3.0{\pm}4.9$ and $7.1{\pm}7.9$ mg morphine equivalent dose in groups CCE, ISB, and IA groups (P = 0.001), respectively, and statistically significant differences were noted between the CCE and IA groups (P = 0.01) but not in between the ISB and CCE groups. Conclusions: This prospective, randomized study demonstrated that ISB is as effective analgesic technique as a CCE for postoperative pain control in patients undergoing ASS.