• Archives of Plastic Surgery
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• v.46 no.3
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• pp.241-247
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• 2019

Background Postoperative pain is one of the most common concerns of patients undergoing hair transplantation surgery. Because most patients are satisfied with the cosmetic improvement after transplantation, amelioration of postoperative pain would help to increase patient accessibility to hair restorative surgery and greatly impact patient satisfaction with the final cosmetic results. This study was performed to investigate postoperative pain after hair transplantation. Methods In total, 241 patients (202 who underwent follicular unit transplantation [FUT] and 39 who underwent follicular unit extraction [FUE]) were eligible for the study. Postoperative pain was evaluated on postoperative days 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 using the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Scale. The patients' medical records were retrospectively reviewed for information on the harvesting method, number of transplanted grafts, size of donor design, and laxity, elasticity, and glidability of the scalp in relation to postoperative pain. Results Postoperative pain after hair transplantation, assessed with the Wong-Baker Faces Pain Scale, seemed to provide very subjective results. None of the variables were correlated with postoperative pain in the FUT group. Such pain, however, tended to disappear by postoperative day 3. Patients in the FUE group experienced significantly less severe pain than those in the FUT group. Conclusions Postoperative pain was significantly less severe in patients whose donor hair was harvested by the FUE than FUT method. Postoperative pain had almost disappeared by postoperative day 3 in the FUT group, whereas only minimal pain was present even on postoperative day 1 in the FUE group.

• Journal of Korean Clinical Nursing Research
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.5-17
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• 2008

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of education regarding postoperative pain management provided for nurses as well as patients on related factors of pain management, including nurses' knowledge and attitude of postoperative pain, and the level of pain that patients felt after surgery. Method: A quasi-experimental research design was used in this research. Twenty-one nurses currently working in general surgery units and 32 patients who were taking on abdominal surgery in A university hospital were participated in this study. The three week-educational program of postoperative pain management including lecture, quiz, poster and discussion was provided for nurse participants. The postoperative pain management education for each patient was provided one day before his/her own operation for 20 minutes with the pamphlet developed by researchers. For assessing the effects, nurses' knowledge and attitude about pain management, patients' postoperative pain, pain control barriers, and satisfaction of pain management were measured. Results: The nurses' knowledge about pain management and the patients' satisfaction of pain management in the experimental group were higher than in the control group. The patients' postoperative pain in the experimental group was lower than in the control group. Conclusion: With the above results, the postoperative pain management education could be an effective nursing intervention for pain management of patients who were taking surgery.

• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.55 no.1
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• pp.20-29
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• 2022

Background: Patients with high-risk (HR) operable non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) may have unique prognostic factors. This study aimed to evaluate surgical outcomes in HR patients and to investigate prognostic factors in HR patients versus standard-risk (SR) patients. Methods: In total, 471 consecutive patients who underwent curative lung resection for NSCLC between January 2012 and December 2017 were identified and reviewed retrospectively. Patients were classified into HR (n=77) and SR (n=394) groups according to the American College of Surgeons Oncology Group criteria (Z4099 trial). Postoperative complications were defined as those of grade 2 or higher by the Clavien-Dindo classification. Results: The HR group comprised more men and older patients, had poorer lung function, and had more comorbidities than the SR group. The patients in the HR group also experienced more postoperative complications (p≤0.001). More HR patients died without disease recurrence. The postoperative complication rate was the only significant prognostic factor in multivariable Cox regression analysis for HR patients but not SR patients. HR patients without postoperative complications had a survival rate similar to that of SR patients. Conclusion: The overall postoperative survival of HR patients with NSCLC was more strongly affected by postoperative complications than by any other prognostic factor. Care should be taken to minimize postoperative complications, especially in HR patients.

• Maxillofacial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.59-69
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• 2001

Purpose : The purpose of the present study was to evaluate postoperative stability and soft-tissue osseous relations of the long face syndrome patients. Methods : Twenty-five patients who had undergone bimaxillary surgery to correct long face syndrome at the Pusan National University Hospital were evaluated. The lateral cephalograms of preoperative, 1 week postoperative and at least 1 year postoperative were examined. Results : 1. The facial height of the long face syndrome patients were longer than normal Korean adults. 2. The most common malocclusion type of the long face syndrome patients in Korea was class III. 3. Horizontal postoperative skeletal relapses were $-0.64{\sim}0.80mm$ in the maxilla, and $-0.56{\sim}0.48mm$ in the mandible. 4. Vertical postoperative skeletal relapses were $0.20{\sim}0.56mm$ in the maxilla, and $-0.80{\sim}0.20mm$ in the mandible. 5. Postoperative soft tissue changes in long face syndrome patients were correlated with postoperative skeletal changes. So prediction schemes for postoperative soft-tissue changes were obtainable. Conclusion : It is hard to predict the exact direction and quantity of the postoperative skeletal relapse in long face syndrome patient's orthognathic surgery because of large standard deviation. But soft tissue change is predictable via prediction scheme.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.271-277
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• 2014

Background: Postoperative delirium is relatively common. However, the relationship between intravenous patient-controlled analgesia (IV-PCA) and delirium has not been thoroughly investigated. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of IV-PCA on the prognosis of postoperative delirium in patients undergoing orthopedic surgery. Methods: Medical records of 129 patients with postoperative delirium were reviewed. Patients were divided into two groups according to whether they used IV-PCA with fentanyl and ketorolac. The IV-PCA group consisted of 73 patients who were managed with IV-PCA; the NO-PCA group consisted of 56 patients who were managed without PCA. Results: Incidences of multiple psychiatric consultations and prolonged delirium were significantly lower in patients using IV-PCA with fentanyl and ketorolac than in those without PCA. Conclusions: We recommend the use of IV-PCA for pain control and management of delirium in patients with postoperative delirium.

• Journal of Gastric Cancer
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• v.16 no.1
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• pp.43-50
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• 2016

Purpose: It is well known that old age is a risk factor for postoperative complications. Therefore, this study aimed to explore the risk factors for poor postoperative surgical outcomes in elderly gastric cancer patients. Materials and Methods: Between January 2006 and December 2015, 247 elderly gastric cancer patients who underwent curative gastrectomy were reviewed. In this study, an elderly patient was defined as a patient aged ${\geq}65$ years. All possible variables were used to explore the risk factors for poor early surgical outcomes in elderly gastric cancer patients. Results: Based on multivariate analyses of preoperative risk factors, preoperative low serum albumin level (<3.5 g/dl) and male sex showed statistical significance in predicting severe postoperative complications. Additionally, in an analysis of surgery-related risk factors, total gastrectomy was a risk factor for severe postoperative complications. Conclusions: Our study findings suggest that low serum albumin level, male sex, and total gastrectomy could be risk factors of severe postoperative complications in elderly gastric cancer patients. Therefore, surgeons should work carefully in cases of elderly gastric cancer patients with low preoperative serum albumin level and male sex. We believe that efforts should be made to avoid total gastrectomy in elderly gastric cancer patients.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.65 no.3
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• pp.439-448
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• 2022

Objective : Craniopharyngiomas (CPs) are associated with hypothalamic damage that causes hypothalamic obesity, however, the mechanisms underlying CP-related postoperative weight gain remain debatable. This study aimed to elucidate whether the major determinant of postoperative weight gain in patients with CP is hypothalamic injury or steroid replacement therapy. Methods : We included 48 adult patients with CP (age ≥18 years) who underwent transsphenoidal surgery between 2010 and 2018 in a single tertiary center, and whose body weight was measured pre- and postoperatively (<120 days after the surgery). We recruited 144 age- and body mass index-matched patients with non-functioning pituitary adenoma (NFPA) as controls. Results : Patients with CP experienced greater postoperative weight gain than patients with NFPA (3.0±5.1 vs. 0.1±3.6 kg, p<0.001). The prevalence of postoperative steroid use was significantly higher in patients with CP than in those with NFPA (89.6% vs. 34.0%, p<0.001). Steroid replacement therapy and CP were associated with postoperative weight gain after adjusting for covariates in overall patients (p=0.032 and 0.007, respectively). In subgroup analysis with postoperative steroid users, weight gain was significantly greater in patients with CP (n=43, 0.96±0.25 kg/month) than in patients with NFPA (n=49, 0.26±0.23 kg/month) even after adjusting for the daily steroid dose (p=0.048). Conclusion : Patients with CP experience greater postoperative weight gain than those with NFPA. Hypothalamic damage itself as well as steroid replacement may contribute to the postoperative weight gain in patients with CP.

• Radiation Oncology Journal
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• v.12 no.2
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• pp.159-164
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• 1994

Purpose : To evaluate the role of postoperative radiotherapy in the management of primary or recurrent intracranial meningiomas. Methods and Materials : A retrospective review of 34 intracranial meningioma patients referred to the Yonsei Cancer Center for postoperative radiotherapy between 1981 and 1990 was undertaken. Of the 34 patients, 24 patients received elective postoperative radiotherapy after total or subtotal resection(Group 1), and 10 patients received postoperative radiotherapy as a salvage treatment for recurrent tumors(Group 2). Ten patients received postoperative radiotherapy after total resection, and twenty-four after subtotal resection. Ten patients who had total tumor resection were referred for radiotherapy either because of angioblastic or malignant histologic type(4 patients in Group 1) or because of recurrent disease after initial surgery(6 patients in Group 2). Radiation dose of 50-56 Gy was delivered over a period of 5-5.5 weeks using 4MV LINAC or Co-60 teletherapy unit. Results : Overall actuarial progression free survival(PFS) at 5 years was $80\%$. Survival was most likely affected by histologic subtypes. Five year PFS rate was $52\%$ for benign angioblastic histology as compared with $100\%$ for classic benign histology. For malignant meningiomas, 5 year PFS rate was $44\%$. The recurrence rates of classic, angioblastic, and malignant type were $5\%(1/21),\;80\%(4/5)$, and $50\%(4/8)$, respectively. The duration between salvage post-operative radiotherapy and recurrence was longer than the duration between initial surgery and recurrence in the patients of group 2 with angioblastic or malignant histology. Conclusion . Postoperative radiotherapy of primary or recurrent intracranial meningiomas appears to be effective modality, especially in the patients with classic meningiomas. In angioblastic or malignant histologies, a more effective approach seems to be needed for decreasing recurrence rate.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.60 no.6
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• pp.730-737
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• 2017

Objective : Postoperative hydrocephalus is a common complication following craniectomy in patients with traumatic brain injury, and affects patients' long-term outcomes. This study aimed to verify the risk factors associated with the development of hydrocephalus after craniectomy in patients with acute traumatic subdural hemorrhage (tSDH). Methods : Patients with acute traumatic SDH who had received a craniectomy between December 2005 and January 2016 were retrospectively assessed by reviewing the coexistence of other types of hemorrahges, measurable variables on computed tomography (CT) scans, and the development of hydrocephalus during the follow-up period. Results : Data from a total of 63 patients who underwent unilateral craniectomy were analyzed. Postoperative hydrocephalus was identified in 34 patients (54%) via brain CT scans. Preoperative intraventricular hemorrhage (IVH) was associated with the development of hydrocephalus. Furthermore, the thickness of SDH (p=0.006) and the extent of midline shift before craniectomy (p=0.001) were significantly larger in patients with postoperative hydrocephalus. Indeed, multivariate analyses showed that the thickness of SDH (p=0.019), the extent of midline shift (p<0.001) and the coexistence of IVH (p=0.012) were significant risk factors for the development of postoperative hydrocephalus. However, the distance from the midline to the craniectomy margin was not an associated risk factor for postoperative hydrocephalus. Conclusion : In patients with acute traumatic SDH with coexisting IVH, a large amount of SDH, and a larger midline shift, close follow-up is necessary for the early prediction of postoperative hydrocephalus. Furthermore, craniectomy margin need not be limited in acute traumatic SDH patients for the reason of postoperative hydrocephalus.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.43 no.3
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• pp.143-148
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• 2008

Objective: Postoperative delirium (POD) is characterized by an acute change in cognitive function and can result in longer hospital stays, higher morbidity rates, and more frequent discharges to long-term care facilities. In this study, we investigated the incidence and risk factors of POD in 224 patients older than 70 years of age, who had undergone a neurosurgical operation in the last two years. Methods: Data related to preoperative factors (male gender, >70 years, previous dementia or delirium, alcohol abuse, serum levels of sodium, potassium and glucose, and co-morbidities), perioperative factors (type of surgery and anesthesia, and duration of surgery) and postoperative data (length of stay in recovery room, severity of pain and use of opioid analgesics) were retrospectively collected and statistically analyzed. Results: POD appeared in 48 patients (21.4%) by postoperative day 3. When we excluded 26 patients with previous dementia or delirium, 17 spontaneously recovered by postoperative day 14, while 5 patients recovered by postoperative 2 months with medication, among 22 patients with newly developed POD. The univariate risk factors for POD included previously dementic or delirious patients, abnormal preoperative serum glucose level, pre-existent diabetes, the use of local anesthesia for the operation, longer operation time (>3.2 hr) or recovery room stay (>90 mini, and severe pain (VAS>6.8) requiring opioid treatment (p<0.05). Backward regression analysis revealed that previously dementic patients with diabetes, the operation being performed under local anesthesia, and severe postoperative pain treated with opioids were independent risk factors for POD. Conclusion: Our study shows that control of blood glucose levels and management of pain during local anesthesia and in the immediate postoperative period can reduce unexpected POD and help preventing unexpected medicolegal problems and economic burdens.