• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제55권4호
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• pp.190-194
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• 2014

Objective : Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a group of diseases that are observed in patients who had experienced a serious trauma or accident. However, some experienced it even after only a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI), and they are easily ignored due to the relatively favorable course of mild TBI. Herein, the authors investigated the incidence of PTSD in mild TBI using brief neuropsychological screening test (PTSD checklist, PCL). Methods : This study was conducted on patients with mild TBI (Glasgow coma scale ${\geq}13$) who were admitted from January 2012 to December 2012. As for PCL, it was done on patients who showed no difficulties in communication upon admission and agreed to participate in this study. By using sum of PCL, the patients were divided into high-risk group and low-risk group. PTSD was diagnosed as the three major symptoms of PTSD according to the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, fourth-edifion. Results : A total of 314 TBI patients were admitted and 71 of them met the criteria and were included in this study. The mean age was 52.9 years-old (range : 15--94). The mean PCL score was 28.8 (range : 17--68), and 10 patients were classified as high-risk group. During follow-up, 2 patients (2.7%) of high risk group, were confirmed as PTSD and there was no patient who was suspected of PTSD in the low-risk group (p=0.017). Conclusion : PTSD is observed 2.8% in mild TBI. Although PTSD after mild TBI is rare, PCL could be considered as a useful tool for screening of PTSD after mild TBI.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• 제25권2호
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• pp.49-56
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• 2012

Purpose: For determining the prognosis of critically injured patients, transporting patients to medical facilities capable of providing proper assessment and management, running rapid assessment and making rapid decisions, and providing aggressive resuscitation is vital. Considering the high mortality and morbidity rates in critically injured patients, various studies have been conducted in efforts to reduce those rates. However, studies related to diagnostic factors for predicting severity in critically injured patients are still lacking. Furthermore, patients showing stable vital signs and alert mental status, who are injured via a severe trauma mechanism, may be at a risk of not receiving rapid assessment and management. Thus, this study investigates diagnostic factors, including physical examination and laboratory results, that may help predict severity in trauma patients injured via a severe trauma mechanism, but showing stable vital signs. Methods: From March 2010 to December 2011, all trauma patients who fit into a diagnostic category that activated a major trauma team in CHA Bundang Medical Center were analyzed retrospectively. The retrospective analysis was based on prospective medical records completed at the time of arrival in the emergency department and on sequential laboratory test results. PASW statistics 18(SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA) was used for the statistical analysis. Patients with relatively stable vital signs and alert mental status were selected based on a revised trauma score of more than 7 points. The final diagnosis of major trauma was made based on an injury severity score of greater than 16 points. Diagnostic variables include systolic blood pressure and respiratory rate, glasgow coma scale, initial result from focused abdominal sonography for trauma, and laboratory results from blood tests and urine analyses. To confirm the true significance of the measured values, we applied the Kolmogorov-Smirnov one sample test and the Shapiro-Wilk test. When significance was confirmed, the Student's t-test was used for comparison; when significance was not confirmed, the Mann-Whitney u-test was used. The results of focused abdominal sonography for trauma (FAST) and factors of urine analysis were analyzed using the Chi-square test or Fisher's exact test. Variables with statistical significance were selected as prognostics factors, and they were analyzed using a multivariate logistics regression model. Results: A total of 269 patients activated the major trauma team. Excluding 91 patients who scored a revised trauma score of less than 7 points, 178 patients were subdivided by injury severity score to determine the final major trauma patients. Twenty-one(21) patients from 106 major trauma patients and 9 patients from 72 minor trauma patients were also excluded due to missing medical records or untested blood and urine analysis. The investigated variables with p-values less than 0.05 include the glasgow coma scale, respiratory rate, white blood cell count (WBC), serum AST and ALT, serum creatinine, blood in spot urine, and protein in spot urine. These variables could, thus, be prognostic factors in major trauma patients. A multivariate logistics regression analysis on those 8 variables showed the respiratory rate (p=0.034), WBC (p=0.005) and blood in spot urine (p=0.041) to be independent prognostic factors for predicting the clinical course of major trauma patients. Conclusion: In trauma patients injured via a severe trauma mechanism, but showing stable vital signs and alert mental status, the respiratory rate, WBC count and blood in the urine can be used as predictable factors for severity. Using those laboratory results, rapid assessment of major trauma patients may shorten the time to diagnosis and the time for management.

• 한국응급구조학회지
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• 제13권1호
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• pp.87-96
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• 2009

Purpose : To grasp the mental burden for legal responsibility that rescue members have in the performance of job. Method : Questionnaire was presented to rescue members serving in 2 direct control safety centers of fire station located in Seoul, Daejon, Incheon, Kwangju, Busan, Daegu and Ulsan. Results : 1. Questioned whether they have mental burden for legal responsibility while performing job on the site, the rescue members responded : very burdensome in 38.0%, burdensome in 56.0%, moderate in 4.5%, not burdensome in 1.0%, no burden at all in 0.5%. 2. Questioned on the first aid treat for which they have the most mental burden, the rescue members responded : intubation into trachea laryngeal mask airway(LMA) in 40.4%, automatic external defibrillator in 16.3%, securing vein providing sap(medicine) in 10.8%, basic cardiopulmonary resuscitation in 7.2%, eliminating foreign matters inserted into body in 5.4%, stanching external bleeding and treating injury in 5.4%, fixing extremities and spine by using splint in 1.8%, measuring the symptom of vitality in 1.2%, providing oxygen in 0.0%. 3. Questioned whether experiencing legal problem or firm petition(complaint) raised by patient while serving as rescue members, they responded : experiencing a complaint in 41.6%, experiencing no complaint in 58.4%. Asked to indicate the stress level in the scale of which they suffered when lawsuit or firm petition was raised, 0(weak)-10(strong), they answered 8.8 in average. 4. Questioned whether 119 rescue members put the legal responsibility in case that they cause damage to patients intentionally in performing, they responded to the inquiry 3.66 in average(of 5.00). It represented meaningful differences (F=2.874, p=.024) whether they had license or not. 5. In future, legal action will raise against the rescue member by 99% because of people's rights improvement(63.1%), high expectations for the rescue system(29.5%), non-licensed rescue members(5.1%). Conclusion : It was found that the rescue members had severe mental burden for advanced life support which was investigated to have low enforcement rate in the preceding research, for instance, intubation into trachea securing vein management by using automatic external defibrillator. To improve the qualitative level of rescue service in the fire fighting, it may be required to construct the environment that eliminates the mental burden of rescue members for legal responsibility.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• 제19권1호
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• pp.47-53
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• 2006

Purpose: Recently, the American Heart Association recommended that routine cervical spine protection in submerged patients was not necessary, except in high-energy injury situations. However, until now, this recommendation has few supportive studies and literatures. This retrospective study was performed to demonstrate the risk of cervical spine injury in patients who had been submerged in a river. Methods: Seventy-nine submerged patients who visited St. Mary's Hospital between January 2000 and December 2005 were included in this retrospective study. We investigated and analyzed the victim's age, sex, activity on submersion, mental status and level of severity at admission, prognosis at discharge, associated injuries, and risk group by using the medical records and cervical spine lateral images. According to the activity on submersion, victims were classified into three groups: high risk, low risk, and unknown risk. The reports of radiologic studies were classified into unstable fracture, stable fracture, sprain, degenerative change, and normal. Results: The patients' mean age was 36.8 yrs, and 54% were males. Of the 79 patients, adult and adolescent populations (80%) were dominant. Jumping from a high bridge (48%) was the most common activity on submersion and accounted for 52% of the high-risk group. The Glasgow coma scale at admission and the cerebral performance scale at discharge showed bimodal patterns. The results of the radiologic studies showed one stable fracture, one suspicious stable fracture, and 18 sprains. The incidence of cervical spine fracture in submerged patients was 2.5% in our study. The incidence of cervical spine injury was higher in the high-risk group than it was in the low-risk group, especially in the jumping-from-high-bridge subgroup; however this observation was not statistically significant. No other factors had any significant effect on the incidence of cervical spine injury. Conclusion: Our study showed that even submerged patients in the high risk group had a low incidence of cervical spine fracture and that the prognosis of a patient did not seem to be influenced by the cervical spine fracture itself.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• 제23권2호
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• pp.89-95
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• 2010

Purpose: Whole-body CT is a very attractive diagnostic tool to clinicians, especially, in trauma. It is generally accepted that trauma patients who are not alert require whole-body CT. However, in alert trauma patients, the usefulness is questionable. Methods: This study was a retrospective review of the medical records of 146 patients with blunt multiple trauma who underwent whole body CT scanning for a trauma workup from March 1, 2008 to February 28, 2009. We classified the patients into two groups by patients' mental status (alert group: 110 patients, not-alert group: 36 patients). In the alert group, we compared the patients' evidence of injury (present illness, physical examination, neurological examination) with the CT findings. Results: One hundred forty six(146) patients underwent whole-body CT. The mean age was $44.6{\pm}18.9$ years. One hundred four (104, 71.2%) were men, and the injury severity score was $14.0{\pm}10.38$. In the not-alert group, the ratios of abnormal CT findings were relatively high: head 23/36(63.9%), neck 3/6(50.0%), chest 16/36(44.4%) and abdomen 9/36(25%). In the alert group, patients with no evidence of injury were rare (head 1, chest 6 and abdomen 2). Nine(9) patients did not need any intervention or surgery. Conclusion: Whole-body CT has various disadvantages, such as radiation, contrast induced nephropathy and high medical costs. In multiple trauma patients, if they are alert and have no evidence of injury, they rarely have abnormal CT findings, and mostly do not need invasive treatment. Therefore, we should be cautious in performing whole-body CT in alert multiple trauma patients.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• 제60권5호
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• pp.584-590
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• 2017

Objective : Traumatic brain injury (TBI) in children under age 24 months has characteristic features because the brain at this age is rapidly growing and sutures are opened. Moreover, children this age are completely dependent on their parents. We analyzed the demographic data and risk factors for outcomes in TBI patients in this age group to elucidate their clinical characteristics. Methods : We retrospectively reviewed the medical records and radiological films of children under 24 months who were admitted to Kyungpook National University Hospital from January 2004 to December 2013 for TBI. Specifically, we analyzed age, cause of injury, initial Glasgow coma scale (GCS) score, radiological diagnosis, seizure, hydrocephalus, subdural hygroma, and Glasgow outcome scale (GOS) score, and we divided outcomes into good (GOS 4-5) or poor (GOS 1-3). We identified the risk factors for post-traumatic seizure (PTS) and outcomes using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results : The total number of patients was 60, 39 males and 21 females. Most common age group was between 0 to 5 months, and the median age was 6 months. Falls were the most common cause of injury (n=29, 48.3%); among them, 15 were falls from household furniture such as beds and chairs. Ten patients (16.7%) developed PTS, nine in one week; thirty-seven patients (61.7%) had skull fractures. Forty-eight patients had initial GCS scores of 13-15, 8 had scores of 12-8, and 4 had scored 3-7. The diagnoses were as follows : 26 acute subdural hematomas, 8 acute epidural hematomas, 7 focal contusional hemorrhages, 13 subdural hygromas, and 4 traumatic intracerebral hematomas larger than 2 cm in diameter. Among them, two patients underwent craniotomy for hematoma removal. Four patients were victims of child abuse, and all of them had PTS. Fifty-five patients improved to good-to-moderate disability. Child abuse, acute subdural hematoma, and subdural hygroma were risk factors for PTS in univariate analyses. Multivariate analysis found that the salient risk factor for a poor outcome was initial GCS on admission. Conclusion : The most common cause of traumatic head injury in individuals aged less than 24 months was falls, especially from household furniture. Child abuse, moderate to severe TBI, acute subdural hematoma, and subdural hygroma were risk factors for PTS. Most of the patients recovered with good outcomes, and the risk factor for a poor outcome was initial mental status.

• Clinical and Experimental Pediatrics
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• 제52권11호
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• pp.1194-1199
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• 2009

Child abuse is defined by a recent act or failure to act that results in death, serious physical or emotional harm, sexual abuse or exploitation, or imminent risk of serious harm; involved a child; and is carried out by a parent or caregiver. This report provides guidance in the clinical approach to the evaluation of suspected physical abuse in children, and role of pediatrician. The medical assessment is outlined with obtaining a medical history, physical examination, and diagnostic testing. A minor form of child abuse which only involves skin injury is most frequently seen by a pediatrician. This kind of child abuse can be followed by more severe forms of child abuse, which have high mortality rates and cause serious physical and mental sequelae to the survivor. Therefore, a pediatrician's role in an early detection and prevention of child abuse is very important.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• 제47권2호
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• pp.181-184
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• 2014

Here, we report a case of massive rhabdomyolysis following an uncomplicated repair of a ventricular septal defect in a five-month-old baby. Postoperatively, the patient was hemodynamically stable but metabolic acidosis continued, accompanied by fever and delayed mental recovery. The next day, he became comatose and never regained consciousness thereafter. The computed tomography of the brain revealed a diffuse brain injury. The patient followed a downhill course and eventually died on postoperative day 33. An unusually high level of creatine phosphokinase was noticed, peaking (21,880 IU/L) on postoperative day 2, suggesting severe rhabdomyolysis. The relevant literature was reviewed, and the possibility of malignant hyperthermia obscured by cardiopulmonary bypass and hypothermia was addressed.

• 구강회복응용과학지
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• 제19권2호
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• pp.109-113
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• 2003

The inferior alveolar nerve provides unilateral innervation to the dentition, labial mucosa and skin from about commissure to the mental protuberance. Injury to this nerve resulting in sensory impairment can be a distressing problem to some patients. The causes of this problem include trauma, extraction, implant surgery and any maxillofacial surgery and generally the altered sensation is temporary. The surgical procedure has been the most common treatment for this condition but it has some complications. The antidepressants and anticonvulsants have been effective to the treatment of trigeminal dysesthesia. This case report suggests that the use of antidepressants and anticonvulsants is an alternative method to treat the paresthesia after implant surgery or extraction.

• Korean Journal of Acupuncture
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• 제20권3호
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• pp.129-146
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• 2003

Objectives : Developmental disorder include every disorder that obstruct functional developments. For example, Mental Retardation, Autism, Developmental Academic Skill Disorder, Developmental Language Disorder, Cerebral Palsy, Tic Disorder(Tourette's Disorder), Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Brain injury etc. Methods : Chinese medical circles study herbs, acupuncture and cooperate Western medicine for treat the Developmental disorder variety. So, we research Chinese and Korean Medical Journal from 1990 to 2003, choose the Acupuncture Therapy. Results : Acupuncture Therapy include head needling, body acupuncture, ear-acupuncture therapy, therapy of point injection. By these ways control brain, the brain's marrow, liver, kidney, heart and treat the developmental disorder effective.