• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.41-46
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• 2017

Purpose: To determine the incidence of post-concussion syndrome (PCS) in Korean patients after minor traumatic brain injury. Methods: We conducted an observational cohort study of a convenience sample of patients presenting to the emergency department of a major academic Korean hospital. Patients who visited the Emergency Department for head trauma were screened. A researcher questioned the subject regarding his or her symptoms. Subjects were contacted by phone approximately 2 weeks after their Emergency Department visit and questioned about subsequent symptoms and subsequent visits for medical care. Results: Only 8% of subjects reported any post-concussion symptoms. Only 0.4% had three or more symptoms which might have met criteria for PCS. The median peak onset of symptoms was 3 days after injury. Conclusion: The incidence of PCS is Korean patients is much lower than that documented for patients in the United States or other western countries. On the other hand, this study results could give an idea that mild trauma could also cause the PCS. Further study is needed to replicate this finding and investigate possible explanations for this difference.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.74-78
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• 2024

Inferior vena cava (IVC) injuries can have fatal outcomes and are associated with high mortality rates. Patients with IVC injuries require multiple procedures, including prehospital care, surgical techniques, and postoperative care. We present the case of a 67-year-old woman who stabbed herself in the abdomen with a knife, resulting in an infrarenal IVC injury. We shortened the transfer time by transporting the patient using a helicopter and decided to perform direct-to-operating room resuscitation by a trauma physician in the helicopter. The patient underwent laparotomy with IVC ligation for damage control during the first operation. The second- and third-look operations, including previous suture removal, IVC reconstruction, and IVC thrombectomy, were performed by a trauma surgeon specializing in cardiovascular diseases. The patient was discharged without major complications on the 19th postoperative day with rivaroxaban as an anticoagulant medication. Computed tomography angiography at the outpatient clinic showed that thrombi in the IVC and both iliac veins had been completely removed. Patients with IVC injuries can be effectively treated using a trauma system that includes fast transportation by helicopter, damage control for rapid hemostasis, and expert treatment of IVC injuries.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.31 no.5
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• pp.375-380
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• 2009

Objective : Trauma has been a controversial issue although it has been considered to be a major factor for the temporomandibular disorder(TMD). We evaluated the relationship between macrotrauma or microtrauma and TMD. Methods : This study was performed in patients with TMD undergoing treatment at SNUBH from October 2006 to January 2007. Sixty one male patients and 166 female patients(total 227) were included and the average age was 34 years(ranging from 14 to 85 years). We investigated the possible etiologic factors, diagnosis and treatment with the review of medical records and radiography. Chronic pain, depression, somatic score(including pain item), somatic score(excluding pain item) were evaluated on the basis of diagnostic index from the Research Diagnostic Criteria on TMD. Results : Eighteen patients(7.9%) out of 227 patients suffered from TMD as a result of macrotrauma. Ninety four(41.4%) patients had microtrauma and six patients(2.6%) had both macro- and microtrauma(etiologic factor). The main symptoms included pain. joint noise and mouth opening limitation while the other symptoms were headache and tinnitus. The patients had suffered from TMD for average 41 weeks (ranging from 1 to 480 weeks). 116 patients took splint as a major treatment. As a prognosis, 19 patients(8.4%) recovered completely. 26(11.0%) had improvement and 181(80%) had persistent symptoms. 1 patient(0.4%) underwent an arthroplasty. Diagnostic index from RDC chart showed that macrotrauma was the highest score(except depression score) among the other etiologic factors. Conclusion : This study showed that macro- and microtrauma can be considered to be the major etiologic factors of TMD, which also affect the chronic, depression and somatic discomfort.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.24 no.2
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• pp.105-110
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• 2011

Purpose: Chest injuries in multiple trauma patients are major predisposing factor for increased length of stay in intensive care unit, prolonged mechanical ventilator, and respiratory complications such as pneumonia. The aim of this study is the evaluation of lung injury score as a risk factor for prolonged management in intensive care unit (ICU). Methods: Between June to August in 2011, 46 patients admitted to shock and trauma center in our hospital and 24 patients had associated chest damage without traumatic brain injury. Retrospectively, we calculated injury severity score (ISS), lung injury score, and the number of fractured ribs and performed nonparametric correlation analysis with length of stay in ICU and mechanical ventilator support. Results: Calculated lung injury score(<48 hours) was median 1(0-3) and ISS was median 30(8-38) in study population. They had median 2(0-14) fractured ribs. There were 2 bilateral fractures and 2 flail chest. Ventilator support was needed in 11(45.8%) of them for median 39 hours(6-166). The ISS of ventilator support group was median 34(24-34) and lung injury score was median 1.7(1.3-2.5). Tracheostomy was performed in one patient and it was only complicated case and ICU stay days was median 9(4-16). In correlation analysis, Lung injury score and ISS were significant with the length of stay in ICU but the number of fractured ribs and lung injury score were predicting factors for prolonged mechanical ventilator support. Conclusion: Lung injury score could be a possible prognostic factor for the prediction of increased length of stay in ICU and need for mechanical ventilator support.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.34 no.4
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• pp.279-283
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• 2021

Traumatic spinal cord infarction is a rare condition that causes serious paralysis. The regulation of spinal cord blood flow in injured spinal cords remains unknown. Spinal cord infarction or ischemia has been reported after cardiovascular interventions, scoliosis correction, or profound hypotension. In this case, a 52-year-old man revisited the emergency center with motor and sensory abnormalities in all four extremities 56 hours after a motor vehicle collision. Despite the clinical presentation and imaging examination, there were no specific findings on the patient's first visit to the trauma center. Cervical spine computed tomography angiography showed a narrow vertebral artery, and diffusion-weighted imaging revealed spinal cord infarction from C3 to C5 with high signal intensity. It should be kept in mind that delayed-onset spinal cord infarction may occur in minor or major trauma patients as a result of head and neck injuries.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.75-79
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• 2017

Purpose: Although trauma is the most common cause of death under age 18, Korean national pediatric trauma data has lack of clinical data. This study is to prepare manpower resources, equipment, and make a correct policy decision on pediatric trauma victims Methods: The study enrolled 528 patients under age 16 with traumatic injury visited Wonju Severance Christian Hostpital Trauma Center, from February 12, 2015 to December 31, 2016. We analyzed the distribution of gender, age, place and time of the accident, injury mechanism, injury severity, and injured organ by medical record. Results: The major injury mechanisms were blunt injury in 485 (91.90%), penetrating injury in 27 (5.10%), burn in 13 (2.50%), near drowning in 2 (0.40%), and foreign body ingestion in 1 (0.20%). Ninety-seven (18.4%) patients were injured at home and 67 (12.7%) patients were injured at school. The overall mortality rate was 1.13% (n=6). 5 mortalities were related to automobile accident and one was fall down. Mean Injury Severity Score (ISS) was 4 (2, 8). No statistical significance was observed in the mean ISS between each age group. The peak time of accident occurrence was between 16 and 17 o'clock. The mean ISS was higher in blunt injury group than penetrating injury with statistical significance ($6.50{\pm}7.60$ vs. $3.00{\pm}8.10$; p<0.05). The most common injury site was upper extremity. Mean ISS was highest in thorax injury. However, mean ISS of thorax injury was higher with statistical significance only compared with face, neck and upper extremity injury. Conclusions: We reported our pediatric trauma patients data of our hospital level I trauma center, which is the only one level I trauma center of Gangwon Province. These data is useful to prevent and prepare for pediatric trauma.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.39 no.2 s.259
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• pp.127-133
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• 2006

Background: In the studies of the distribution of time to death in trauma patients, the early deaths within several hours after injury were a large component of total trauma deaths. Due to the development of trauma system, overall mortality of trauma was decreased, but trauma is still the major cause of deaths. Material and Method: From January 1994 to December 2003, trauma patients who had been admitted and had expired at tertiary hospital were enrolled. There was a total of 400 cases, a retrospective study was done to determine the distribution of trauma mortality according to the part of the body that were severely injured part and compared the difference between early deaths within 6 hours and late deaths after 6 hours. We also analysed the risk factors of early deaths due to trauma. Result: In severe injury to the head and abdomen, the distribution of mortality was bimodal. But, in severe chest injuries, the distribution was log-shape and most early deaths were almost of trauma related. The average of GCS were 5.86$\pm$4.15 for the early deaths and 8.24$\pm$5.02 for the late deaths (p < 0.05). The AIS of thorax were 2.66$\pm$1.87 for the early deaths and 1.55$\pm$1.76 for late deaths. The risk factors for early mortality were non-EMS transportation (odds ratio 3.474), high AIS (odds ratio 1.491) and GCS (odds ratio 0.859). Conclusion: In trauma patients, the causes of early mortality were severe brain injury and massive hemorrhage. Also severe chest injuries were the major cause of the early deaths in truama. Early diagnosis of chest injury can frequently be missed in the acute trauma setting. Therefore, high index of suspicion, a careful examination, and aggressive surgical treatment are important in multiple trauma patients.

• Korean Journal of Biological Psychiatry
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.45-52
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• 2018

Objectives The objective of this study was to investigate the differences in sociodemographic and clinical characteristics, temperaments, and quality of life between panic disorder (PD) patients with and without major depressive disorder (PD+MDD and PD-MDD patients, respectively). Methods We compared 411 PD-MDD and 219 PD+MDD patients. All patients who were drug-free for at least 1 month were assessed at initial outpatient visits before the administration of medication. The following instruments were used for assessment: the NEO Personality Inventory-Neuroticism (NEO-N) ; the Temperament and Character Inventory-Harm Avoidance (TCI-HA) ; the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) ; the Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale-Short (IUS); the Anxiety Sensitivity Index-Revised (ASI-R); the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) ; the Beck Anxiety Inventory (BAI); the Penn State Worry Questionnaire (PSWQ) ; the Generalized Anxiety Disorder for 7 item (GAD-7) ; the Albany Panic and Phobia Questionnaire (APPQ) ; the Panic Disorder Severity Scale (PDSS) ; the Early Trauma Inventory Self Report-Short Form (ETISR-SF) ; the Scale for Suicidal Ideation (SSI) ; the World Health Organization Quality of Life Scale Abbreviated Version (WHOQOL-BREF) ; the Sheehan Disability Scale (SDS) ; and the Short Form health survey (SF-36). Results Compared to the PD-MDD patients, the PD+MDD patients were younger and more likely to be unmarried. They showed higher rates of unemployment, lower levels of education and income, younger age of onset, more previous suicide attempts, a greater incidence of agoraphobia, and more previous treatments. The PD+MDD patients showed significantly higher scores on the NEO-N, the TCI-HA, the STAI, the IUS, the ASI-R, the BDI, the BAI, the PSWQ, the GAD-7, the APPQ, the PDSS, the ETISR-SF, and the SSI. In addition, the PD+MDD patients showed significantly lower quality of life than did the PD-MDD patients. In contrast with previous studies, we observed no significant differences between the two groups in terms of gender, duration until treatment, and psychiatric comorbidities. Conclusions This study showed that the PD+MDD patients have more early trauma experiences, higher levels of anxiety-related temperaments, more severe panic and depressive symptoms, and lower quality of life than the PD-MDD patients.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.33 no.1
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• pp.13-17
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• 2020

Purpose: Accurate and appropriate prehospital field triage is essential for a trauma system. The Korean trauma system (established in 2014) uses the trauma field triage algorithm of the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). This study evaluated the suitability of the CDC field triage criteria for major trauma cases (injury severity score >15) in Korea. Methods: This retrospective cohort study evaluated trauma patients who presented at the authors' regional trauma center from January 1 to May 7, 2017. The undertriage and overtriage rates of each CDC field triage step were calculated. Receiver operating characteristic curves were constructed, and the area under the curve (AUC) was evaluated for each step. Results: Among the 1,009 enrolled patients, 168 (16.7%) had major trauma. The undertriage/overtriage rates of each step (steps I, II, III, and IV) of CDC field triage were 9.2%/47.4%, 6.3%/50.8%, 4.5%/59.4%, and 5.3%/78.9%, respectively. The AUC values of each CDC triage step were 0.722, 0.783, 0.791, and 0.615, respectively. The AUC values of the separate components of each step (physiologic criteria, anatomic criteria, mechanism-of-injury criteria, and special considerations) were 0.722, 0.648, 0.647, and 0.456, respectively. Conclusions: The CDC field triage system is acceptable, but not ideal, for Korean trauma care. If we follow the protocol, it would be preferable to omit step IV. The Korean Triage and Acuity Scale may be a good indicator for in-hospital triage. However, a new triage protocol that is simple to estimate on-scene while having good performance should be developed.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.42 no.2
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• pp.226-232
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• 2009

Background: Blunt chest trauma accounts for 90% of all chest traumas in Europe and the United States and this causes 20% of all trauma-related deaths. The major cause of morbidity and mortality after blunt chest trauma is undetected injuries. For this reason, chest computerized tomography has gained popularity for the evaluation of trauma, but it is expensive and it exposes patients to radiation. This study identified the clinical features associated with the diagnosic information obtained on a CT chest scan, as compared with a standard chest X-ray, for patients who sustained blunt trauma to the chest. This study also evaluated the role of a routine computed tomographic (CT) scan for these patients. The patients who had chest computed tomography done after the initial chest x-ray were analyzed separately for the presence of occult injuries. Material and Method: We studied 100 consecutive patients from November 2006 to July 2007: 74 patients after motor vehicle crashes and 26 patients after a fall from a height >2m. Simultaneous with the initial clinical evaluation, an anteroposterior chest radiograph and a helical chest CT scan were obtained for all the patients. The data extracted from the medical record included the vital signs, the interventions and the type and severity of injury (RTS). Result: Among the 100 cases, 79 patients showed at least more than one pathologic sign on their chest radiograph, and 21 patients had a normal chest radiograph. For 17 of the patients who had a normal chest X ray, the CT scan showed multiple injuries, which were pneumothorax, hemothorax, lung contusion, sternal fracture etc. This represents that a CT scan is statistically superior to a chest radiograph to diagnose the pathologic signs. But on the other hand, as for treatment, only 31 patients were diagnosed by CT scan and they were treated with chest tube insertion ect. 42 patients needed ony conservative management without invasive thoracosurgical treatment such as chest tube insertion or open thoracotomy. 27 patients were treated based on the diagnosis made by the chest radiograph and physical examination. Conclusion: Chest computerized tomography was significantly more effective than routine chest X-ray for detecting lung contusion, pneumothorax and mediastinal hematoma, as well as fractured ribs, scapula and, sternum. Although the occult findings increased, the number of patients who needed treatment was small. Therefore, we suggest making selective use of a CT scan to avoid its overuse in ERs.