• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.155-160
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• 2012

Background: We have developed an intradiscal pulsed radiofrequency (Disc PRF) technique, using Diskit $II^{(R)}$ needles (NeuroTherm, Wilmington, MA, USA), as a minimally invasive treatment option for chronic discogenic low back pain (LBP). The purpose of this study was to compare the representative outcomes of Disc PRF and Intradiscal Electrothermal Therapy (IDET) in terms of pain relief and reduction of disability. Methods: Thirty-one patients with chronic discogenic LBP who underwent either Disc PRF (n = 15) or IDET (n = 16) were enrolled in the study. A Diskit $II^{(R)}$ needle (15-cm length, 20-gauge needle with a 20-mm active tip) was placed centrally in the disc. PRF was applied for 15 min at a setting of $5{\times}50$ ms/s and 60 V. The pain intensity score on a 0-10 numeric rating scale (NRS) and the Roland-Morris Disability Questionnaire (RMDQ) were assessed pretreatment and at 1, 3, and 6 months post-treatment. Results: The mean NRS was significantly improved from $7.2{\pm}0.6$ pretreatment to$2.5{\pm}0.9$ in the Disc PRF group, and from $7.5{\pm}1.0$ to $1.7{\pm}1.5$ in the IDET group, at the 6-month follow-up. The mean RMDQ also showed significant improvement in both the Disc PRF group and the IDET group at the 6-month follow-up. There were no significant differences in the pretreatment NRS and RMDQ scores between the groups. Conclusions: Disc PRF appears to be an alternative to IDET as a safe, minimally invasive treatment option for patients with chronic discogenic LBP.

• The Journal of Korea Assosiation for Disability and Oral Health
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.107-114
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• 2011

Dental extraction is potentially stress-inducing in many disabled patient. The body's response to dental stress involves the cardiovascular system(an increase in cardiovascular workload), the respiratory organ and the endocrine system(change in metabolism). To minimize the stress, the stress reduction method was established. The obtained contents were as follows: (1) Recognize the patient's degree of medical risk, (2) Complete medical consultation before dental therapy, (3) Schedule the patient's appointment in the morning, (4) Monitor and record preoperative and postoperative vital signs, (5) Use psychosedation during therapy, (6) Use adequate pain control during therapy, (7) Short length of appointment : do not exceed the patient's limits of tolerance, (8) Follow up with postoperative pain/anxiety control, (9) Telephone the risk patient later on the same day that treatment was given. Though the stress reduction method above was applied to the dental extraction in disabled patients with the advanced infected teeth, the complications(syncope, shock, bleeding & infection, etc.) may be occurred. For prevention of complications associated with the extraction, the authors treated the advanced infected teeth with endodontic drainage and incision & drainage before extraction. The final extraction and wound closure were then done after about 3 weeks.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.97-105
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• 2022

Background: Percutaneous transforaminal endoscopic discectomy (PTED) has been widely used in the treatment of lumbar degenerative diseases. Epidural injection of steroids can reduce the incidence and duration of postoperative pain in a short period of time. Although steroids are widely believed to reduce the effect of surgical trauma, the observation indicators are not uniform, especially the long-term effects, so the problem remains controversial. Therefore, the purpose of this paper was to evaluate the efficacy of epidural steroids following PTED. Methods: We searched PubMed, Embase, and the Cochrane Database from 1980 to June 2021 to identify randomized and non-randomized controlled trials comparing epidural steroids and saline alone following PTED. The primary outcomes included postoperative pain at least 6 months as assessed using a visual analogue scale (VAS) and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI). The secondary outcomes included length of hospital stay and the time of return to work. Results: A total of 451 patients were included in three randomized and two non-randomized controlled trials. The primary outcomes, including VAS and ODI scores, did not differ significantly between epidural steroids following PTED and saline alone. There were no significant intergroup differences in length of hospital stay. Epidural steroids were shown to be superior in terms of the time to return to work (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Intraoperative epidural steroids did not provide significant benefits, leg pain control, improvement in ODI scores, and length of stay in the hospital, but it can enable the patient to return to work faster.

• The Journal of the Korea Contents Association
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• v.20 no.10
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• pp.385-394
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• 2020

This study was carried out to investigate the post stroke depression (PSD) occurrence in acute stroke patients and to identify the factors that influence PSD. The study subjects were 104 adults in their 20s or older who were scheduled to be discharged due to inpatient treatment for ischemic stroke in two hospitals. Data were collected using Post Stroke Depression Scale for PSD, Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support for social support, National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale for stroke severity, and Modified Rankin Scale for disability. The average length of stay after stroke onset of the study subjects was 5.9±2.1 days, and 79.8% were within 7 days. Stroke severity score was an average of 2.4±2.5 out of 42 points, and disability score was an average of 1.6±1.1 out of 6 points. Among the subjects, 32.7% had mild or more severe depression after stroke. The subjects with no religion, severe disability, high stroke severity, and less family support had a higher likelihood of experiencing PSD. These results show that depression can appear in the early stages of stroke onset. Therefore, it is necessary to develop nursing guidelines for depression intervention after acute stroke, including continuous early assessment of depression from the acute phase of stroke and religion or family support.

• The Journal of Internal Korean Medicine
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.1321-1328
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• 2018

Objective: This study was performed to report on the effects of traditional Korean Medicine as a treatment for a patient with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, with lower limb pain as the chief complaint. Methods: We treated this patient with traditional Korean medicine and measured symptom severity using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), and the Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) as well as measuring the length of the patient's self-exercising time. Results: After about 7 weeks of treatment, most pathological symptoms had decreased. There was a gradual decline in the VAS and a gradual increase in the length of the self-exercising time. Although there was an increase in the ODI scale during the first 2 weeks, it eventually showed a decline in the rest of the period. Conclusions: Traditional Korean medicine can be a solution for the patients with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease suffering from peripheral neurological symptoms.

• Health Policy and Management
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• v.29 no.2
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• pp.160-171
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• 2019

Background: This study purposed to compare the difference on medical utilization and health expenditure of baby boomer generation by depression between gender. Methods: Korea Welfare Panel Survey 2016, provided by the Korea Institute for Health and Social Affairs, was used for the analysis. For the research, we used the two-part model, yes or no of use (part 1), and frequency of use (part 2) for medical utilization. The dependent variables are the whether or not to use of hospitalization services, outpatient services, length of stay, outpatient service visits, and health expenditure. And the independent variables are used as the predisposing (education, spouse presence), enabling (insurance type, private insurance, economic activity, income), and need (chronic disease, self-rated health, disability) factors in the Andersen behavior model. Depression was used as intervening variables. Structural equation model and multiple group analysis by gender were used. Results: There were differences in the medical care usage and cost between men and women in baby boomer. For men, mediating effects of depression were present at the hospitalization (yes/no), length of stay, and health expenditure. On the other hand, for women, the mediating effect of depression was found only at the outpatient visits. Specially, depression was working at the medical services by the different way between gender. The size of effect (multiple group analysis) was affected by significant differences between men and women. Conclusion: This study found that the mediating effect of depression is increased medical usage and health expenditure and the effect factors are different by gender. Therefore, it is necessary to establish a medical care policy considering the socio-economic characteristics of baby boomers.

• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.45 no.5
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• pp.260-266
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• 2019

Objectives: Dental implants shorter than 8 mm, called short dental implants (SDIs), have been considered to have a lower success rate than standard length implants. But recent studies have shown that SDIs have a comparable success rate, and implant diameter was more important for implant survival than implant length. Also, SDIs have many advantages, such as no need for sinus lifting or vertical bone grafting, which may limit use in medically compromised patients. Materials and Methods: In this study, 33 patients with 47 implants 7-mm long were examined over the last four years. All patients had special medical history and were categorized into 3 groups: systemic disorders, such as diabetes mellitus (controlled or uncontrolled), mental disability, and uncontrolled hypertension; oral cancer ablation with reconstruction, with or without radiotherapy; diverse osteomyelitis, such as osteoradionecrosis and bisphosphonate-related osteonecrosis of the jaw. Most of these patients have insufficient residual bone quality due to mandible atrophy or sinus pneumatization. Results: The implant diameters were 4.0 (n=38), 4.5 (n=8), and 5.0 mm (n=1). Among the 47 implants placed, 2 implants failed before the last followup. The survival rate of 7-mm SDIs was 95.74% from stage I surgery to the last follow-up. Survival rates did not differ according to implant diameter. The mean marginal bone loss (MBL) at 3 months, 1 and 2 years was significantly higher than at implant installation, and the MBL at 1 year was also significantly higher than at 3 months. MBL at 1 and 2 years did not differ significantly. Conclusion: Within the limitations of the present study, the results indicate that SDIs provide a reliable treatment, especially for medically compromised patients, to avoid sinus lifting or vertical bone grafting. Further, long-term follow-up is needed.

• Journal of the Korean Society of Physical Medicine
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• v.16 no.4
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• pp.139-151
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• 2021

PURPOSE: This study examined the effects of wall-squat with short-foot exercise on pain, dysfunction, and pelvic alignment in chronic low back pain patients. METHODS: Thirty outpatients diagnosed with chronic low back pain and pronated foot were enrolled in this study. The patients were divided randomly into a wall-squat with short-foot exercise group (WS; n = 15) and a normal wall-squat exercise group (NW; n = 15). These groups performed their respective exercises 15 times, for three sets, three times a week over six weeks. The visual analogue scale (VAS) was used to measure the subjects' pain, and the Roland-Morris disability questionnaire (RMDQ) was used to measure the subjects' dysfunction. A navicular drop test (NDT) was used to measure the subjects' arch height. To assess the patients' pelvic alignment, their lordosis, sacral tilt, lumbar width, sacral width, ilium length, and ilium width were measured by X-ray imaging. RESULTS: Both the WS and NW groups exhibited significant decreases in their VAS and RMDQ scores after exercise (p < .05). The WS group exhibited significant increases in their arch height (p < .05). Significant differences in the VAS, sacral tilt, sacral width, and ilium length were observed between the WS and NW groups (p < .05). CONCLUSION: These results suggest that wall-squat exercise is effective in decreasing the level of pain and dysfunction in chronic low back pain patients. In addition, the wall-squat with short-foot exercise is considered more effective in improving the pelvic alignment than without short-foot exercise. This can be an effective method for the non-pharmacological and non-surgical treatment of chronic low back pain

• Journal of Korean Medicine Rehabilitation
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.165-171
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• 2020

The purpose of this study is to report the effect of korean medicine treatment for developmental dysplasia of the hip (DDH) in adults. A patient diagnosed with DDH had been treated with acupuncture, electroacupuncture, cupping therapy and chuna manual therapy for 8 weeks. The patient was evaluated by using range of motion (ROM) of hip joint, muscle strength of lower extremity, leg length, numeric rating scale (NRS) and Korean version of hip disability and osteoarthritis outcome score (K-HOOS). After the treatment, the patient had an improvement in the symptoms, pain, and activities of daily living of K-HOOS, especially the quality of life. In addition, NRS decreased from 7 to 4 points, and ROM and muscle strength also improved. The results of this study show that korean medicine treatment is effective and meaningful as one of the conservative treatment for DDH in adults.

• Journal of Fashion Business
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• v.26 no.2
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• pp.83-94
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to analyze the reality of clothes-wearing among physically disabled women and propose trouser designs. As a research method, an in-depth interview method was adopted for 10 women in their 30s and 50s with lower limb disabilities who could wear trousers and use wheelchairs. The study results identified the following factors that should be considered in the design of trousers. First, a semi-casual design that could hide physical deficiencies, was not different from ready-made clothes and enabled various looks was desirable. Second, the proper material would have little transformation in the form, have remarkable durability and laundry fastness, two-directional stretch, and hide deficiencies with a sense of thickness and density. Third, an "L-frame" pattern in a sitting position, and a straight fit were desirable. Finally, pockets can impose pressure according to their form, size, position, and sewing method, highlighted the need for a sewing approach to minimize seams in the fabric. For adjustment, an elastic band would be a good choice in terms of type, length, position, and material as it could satisfy both the convenience of putting on and taking off and comfort in wearing at the same time. Decorative design details can also impose pressure according to a sense of thickness, which means that they should be avoided in parts that are close to the body or can impose pressure according to posture.