• Journal of Acupuncture Research
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.107-114
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• 2013

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to analyze actual status of foreign patients who visited hospital of Korean medicine and suggest developmental direction of korean medical tourism. Methods : This study includes 675 foreign patients who visited spine-specialized hospital of Korean medicine from January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012. Based on computerized medical records, patients' age, gender, country, date of initial and last visit, chief complaint, treatment period and species of treatment were collected. These data were used for analyzation of actual condition of medical tourism at hospital of Korean medicine. Results : A total of 675 foreign patients visited spine-specialized hospital of Korean medicine. 395 patients(59 %) were female and the forties was the most common by ages. Patients from Japan were the most common followed by Russia and United States of America. Patients visited hospital 5.1 times during 27.4 days in average. There were 526 cases of spinal pain and only 52 cases were non-musculoskeletal disease. The most frequently performed treatment was general acupuncture treatment while moxibustion and bee venom acupuncture were remarkably infrequently treated. Conclusions : The result of this study suggests potential possibility of development of Korean medical tourism focused on disease cure as well as current trend of beauty and Korean medical experience at the Korean medical tourism field.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.20 no.1
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• pp.12-16
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• 2014

Foreign body ingestion is a common problem among paediatric populations. Most of the ingested foreign bodies spontaneously pass through the gastrointestinal tract, but approximately less then 10% of them remain without being discharged, and trigger complications. Therefore, proper evaluation and treatment according to the situation is required. In this study, clinical progress and complications were analyzed according to the clinical features and treatment in children who ingested foreign bodies. Among pediatric patients under 18 who were admitted to Chonnam National University Hospital after ingesting foreign bodies between January 2008 to June 2012, only the patients who had their foreign body in the gastrointestinal tract were included in this study. Based on medical records, age, type of foreign body, time spent till admission, and whether the endoscopy was done or not, complication were researched retrospectively. According to symptoms and plain abdomen X-ray findings, treatment was chosen and conducted among endoscopy, observation and emergency operation. Among 273 patients, 9 (3.3%) of them had surgical removal. Seven (2.6%) of them had an emergency operation on the day of admission, and the rest 2 (0.7%) had operation during observation. Removal through initial endoscopic approach was tried in 157 (57.5%) patients. Eleven (70.8%) of them had their foreign body removed at the initial trial, and 5 (4.9%) of them at the second trial. Among 109, who were on observation status, 9 (8.3%) of them needed endoscopic removal, and 2 (1.8%) of them suffered from surgical removal. It is thought to be better to approach slowly considering the type, size and symptoms in foreign body ingestion of pediatric patients, rather than immediate and invasive removal.

• Tuberculosis and Respiratory Diseases
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• v.58 no.6
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• pp.600-606
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• 2005

Background : The development of bronchoscopic equipment along with the precision of radiographic techniques had reduced the mortality rate of patients with tracheobronchial foreign bodies but has been no change in the incidence of tracheobronchial foreign bodies since their introduction. The aim of this study was to assess the clinical characteristics of a tracheobronchial foreign body aspiration and to evaluate the efficacy of the treatment modality in children and adults. Methods : This is a retrospective review of 64 patients who underwent bronchoscopic procedures for the treatment of aspirated foreign bodies from December 1994 through March 2004 at the Chonnam national university hospital. Results : There were 47 males and 17 females, aged from 1 month to 78 years. Most of the patients had no underlying illness except for one patient with a cerebrovascular accident that contributed to the foreign body aspiration. The most common symptom was cough, which was noted in 54 patients (84.3%). The other presenting symptoms were dyspnea (48.8%), fever (20.3%), sputum (14%), vomiting (7.8%), and chest pain (4.6%). Those whose tracheobronchial foreign bodies were diagnosed more than 2 days after the aspiration (21 patients) were more likely to have pneumonia than those whose foreign bodies were diagnosed within 2 days (p = 0.009). Foreign bodies were visualized in the plain chest radiographs in 12 cases (18.8%), while others showed air trapping (21, 32.8%), pneumonia (15, 23.4%), atelectasis (7, 10.9%), and normal findings (9, 14.1%). The foreign bodies were more frequently found in the right bronchial tree (36) compared with the left bronchial tree (22, p = 0.04). In order to remove the foreign bodies, twenty (31.2%) cases were removed using flexible bronchoscopy, while 42 (65.6%) and 2 (3.2%) cases required rigid bronchoscopy and surgery, respectively. Conclusions : Tracheobronchial Foreign body aspiration had a bimodal age distribution in the infancy and old age around 60 years. They were found more frequently in the right bronchial tree. In addition, patients whose foreign bodies were diagnosed more than 2 days after the aspiration were more likely have a infection. Rigid bronchoscopy is the procedure of choice for uncooperative children and for those with foreign bodies lodged deeply in the small bronchial tree.

• Korea Journal of Hospital Management
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.13-23
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• 2015

This research is intended to inquire any discrepancy depending on the variables such as types, geography and size of hospitals of Korea in order to develop differentiated marketing strategy and to investigate how the aforementioned variables affect the management performance such as the increase in the number of foreign patients, their willingness to re-visit, the increase in profit and etc. The survey for this research was conducted for five weeks from July 10th 2014 to August 30th 2014 with 251 participants in charge of foreign patient attraction for 161 domestic hospitals. As the method of the research, a hypothesis was first established based on previous studies, followed by the incorporation of self-administered questionnaire to confirm the formulated hypothesis. Frequency analysis and ANOVA analysis were used to analyze the result of the survey. The outcome of the research and the implications are as follows. First, according to the demography of the persons-in-charge of foreign patient attraction, the proportion of female was superbly high by 76.5%. As for the age, those in their 30s were highest in proportion. Finally, for the education level, college graduates took up the largest portion by 46.5%. Second, in respect to the hypothesis assuming the difference in performance depending on the types of hospitals, national university-affiliated hospitals showed the highest level of the increase in foreign patients by the average of 3.25. Third, in respect to the hypothesis assuming the difference in performance based on geographical position, it was confirmed that hospitals in Ulsan City experienced the largest growth in the number in foreign patients. Fourth, in respect to the sizes of hospitals, those with 201 to 300 sickbeds showed the highest increase by the average of 3.45. The implication of the above research outcome indicates that while the number of foreign patients visiting Korea for medical purposes is on the rise, the number of professionals in place with necessary knowledge and capacity is insufficient and requires improvement.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.20 no.3
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• pp.267-278
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• 2014

Purpose: This study aimed to examine the differences in Korean nurses' cultural competence perceived by nurses and foreign patients in a general hospital. Methods: The study participants were recruited from outpatient clinics and wards in H General Hospital located in Busan. Cultural competence was measured by the Cultural Competence Scale for Korean Nurses, consisting of 4 subscales: cultural perception, cultural knowledge, cultural sensitivity, and cultural skills. Data were collected from March 31 to April 30, 2014 by distributing and collecting a self-administrated questionnaire set. Data of the 90 foreign patients and 90 nurses were analyzed using PASW statistics 18.0 for independent t-test and ANOVA. Results: The level of cultural competence of Korean nurses perceived by foreign patients was significantly higher than that of nurses. On the cultural awareness dimension, nurses rated themselves more highly than foreign patients did while ratings on the dimensions of cultural knowledge and cultural skill were the opposite. Conclusion: This study indicates that there was a statistically significant difference in the perception of nurses' cultural competence between nurses and foreign patients. The findings can be used for developing education programs to enhance nurses' cultural competence, integrating the perspectives of foreign patients.

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.187-195
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• 2022

Background: This retrospective study investigated the incidence rate of accidental foreign body aspiration and ingestion according to patient sex, age, and dental department. This study aimed to verify whether the incidence rate is higher in geriatric than in younger patients and whether it is different among dental departments. Methods: Accidental foreign body aspiration and ingestion cases were collected from electronic health records and the safety report system of Yonsei University Dental Hospital from January 2011 to December 2017. The collected data included patients' age, sex, medical conditions, treatment procedures, and foreign objects that were accidentally aspirated or ingested. The incidence rate was calculated as the number of accidental foreign body aspirations and ingestions relative to the total number of patient visits. Differences depending on the patients' sex, age, and dental department were statistically identified. Results: There were 2 aspiration and 37 ingestion cases during the 7-year analysis period. The male to female incidence ratio was 2.8:1. The incidence rate increased with age and increased rapidly among those aged 80 years or older. Seven of the 37 patients with accidental foreign body ingestion had intellectual disability, Lou Gehrig's disease, dystonia, or oral and maxillofacial cancer. The incidence rate was highest in the Predoctoral Student Clinic and the Department of Prosthodontics. The most frequently swallowed objects were fixed dental prostheses and dental implant components. Conclusion: The incidence rate of accidental foreign body aspiration and ingestion differed according to patient sex, age, and dental department. Dental practitioners must identify high-risk patients and apply various methods to prevent accidental foreign body aspiration and ingestion in dental clinics. Inexperienced practitioners should be particularly careful.

• Advances in pediatric surgery
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• v.13 no.2
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• pp.112-118
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• 2007

Ingested foreign bodies are common occurrences in the pediatric population. From October 2002 to April 2006, eight patients (6 male, mean age: $30.9{\pm}14.4$ months, range: 7~45 months) who had ingested metallic foreign bodies, such as bar magnets, coin-type magnets, screws, metal beads, and disk batteries, were selected for foreign body removal using a magnetic device under floroscopic control. A 1-cm-long cylindrical magnet (6 mm in diameter) was placed at the end of a 150-cm-long plastic tube from an IV set. The magnet was passed through the mouth into the stomach. Under fluoroscopic control, the magnet was maneuvered so that it attached to the metallic foreign bodies. The forgeign body was then easily removed by retracting the magnet with the metallic object attached. This procedure was successful in six patients of 8 patients. This procedure is a minimally-invasive and may avoid the use of anesthesics, endoscopy or surgery.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.14 no.4
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• pp.331-338
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• 1981

The inhalation of a foreign body into the tracheobronchial tree is a child is a life-threatening accident. Forgotten foreign bodies In the airways cause chronic pulmonary infections, allergic asthma, bronchiectatic changes, and lung abscess Foreign bodies that cannot be grasped by bronchoscopic forceps should be removed by thoracotomy and bronchotomy. This report describes our experience In 16 patients who were treated to remove inhaled foreign bodies from the airways after repeated bronchoscopies had been unsuccessful from 1963 to 1981 at the department thoracic surgery of Seoul National University Hospital. The surgical procedures are as follows: 12 patients bronchotomy, 2 patient pneumonectomy, 2 patients lobectomy. In these cases, the foreign bodies are 8 metallic material, 3 plastic material, 1 bean, 1 black snail, and 3 cases of no records. Bronchotomy must be performed as soon as possible in order to avoid more advanced pathologic changes In the Involved lung, such as bronchiectasis, fibrosis or abscess.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.222-232
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• 2022

Purpose: This study was to investigate the dentists' experience and awareness of foreign body ingestion and aspiration during dental prosthetic treatment. Materials and Methods: A survey of 157 dentists working at 108 dental institutions in Daejeon and Chungcheong provinces was carried out and frequency analysis was conducted. Chi-square test was conducted to find out the difference between the sociodemographic data and experience of foreign body ingestion and aspiration of patients and independent sample t-test was conducted to find out the difference in awareness depending on whether receiving related education. Results: The percentage of dentists experiencing dropping foreign body into patients' oral cavity was 99.4% and the percentage of dentists experiencing foreign body ingestion and aspiration of patients was 53.5%. There were more dentists who experienced foreign body ingestion and aspiration of patients in male than female, longer working career, and general practitioners than specialists (P < .05). 50.3% of the respondents received related education. When they receive related education, they had low degree of concern, high confidence in coping with situations, and low willingness to receive education in the future (P < .05). Conclusion: The percentage of foreign body dropping was 16% higher in prosthetic treatment than general treatment. The percentage of dentists with experience of foreign body ingestion and aspiration of patients was 53.5%. Among them, 92.9% experienced foreign body ingestion of patients and 7.1% of them experienced foreign body aspiration of patients.

• Journal of Arbitration Studies
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• v.26 no.1
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• pp.73-87
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• 2016

Activation Plan for International Health Care through the Resolution of Medical Disputes with Foreign Patients. The field of international health care is currently being expanded and developed into the new industrial field of medical tourism through the convergence of medicine - a public sector - and tourism - a private sector. This study examines problems with medical law regarding the prevention of medical disputes that may occur when attracting foreign patients and the resolution of these disputes. It also introduces the current most ideal resolution plan for medical disputes. Advanced measures for the prevention of medical disputes with foreign patients are as follows: First, when conducting international health care, the obligation to explain a medical treatment should be applied at higher standards for foreign patients. Second, all medical treatment procedures, including appointments, treatments, discharge, post-operation consultations, and follow-up treatments of foreign patients should be charted and recorded. A checklist regarding precautions for each procedure along with a response manual for problems should also be established. These regulations can prevent unexpected conflicts in advance when medical disputes occur. If a medical dispute with a foreign patient occurs despite thorough advance prevention, it can be resolved through reconciliation, mediation, and arbitration. The government and the medical field along with its related industries and authorities should put their efforts into developing these priori/posteriori measures for the activation of international medical health care. The laws and technological/human capabilities in medicine should also be improved in order to activate international medical health care.