• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.36 no.3
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• pp.172-179
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• 2023

Purpose: Out-of-hospital traumatic cardiac arrest (TCA) often has a poor prognosis despite rescue efforts. Although the incidence and mortality of out-of-hospital cardiac arrest have increased, bystander cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) has decreased in some countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. In the prehospital setting, immediate treatment of cardiac arrest is required without knowing the patient's COVID-19 status. Because COVID-19 is usually transmitted through the respiratory tract, airway management can put medical personnel at risk for infection. This study explored whether on-scene treatments involving CPR for TCA patients changed during the COVID-19 pandemic in Korea. Methods: This retrospective study used data from emergency medical services (EMS) run sheets in Gangwon Province from January 2019 to December 2021. Patients whose initial problem was cardiac arrest and who received CPR were included. Data in 2019 were classified as pre-COVID-19 and all subsequent data (from 2020 and 2021) as post-COVID-19. Age, sex, possible cause of cardiac arrest, and treatments including airway maneuvers, oropharyngeal airway (OPA) or i-gel insertion, endotracheal intubation (ETI), bag-valve mask (BVM) ventilation, intravenous (IV) line establishment, neck collar application, and wound dressing with hemostasis were investigated. Results: During the study period, 2,007 patients received CPR, of whom 596 patients had TCA and 367 had disease-origin cardiac arrest (DCA). Among the patients with TCA, 192 (32.2%) were pre-COVID-19 and 404 (67.8%) were post-COVID-19. In the TCA group, prehospital treatments did not decrease. The average frequencies were 59.7% for airway maneuvers, 47.5% for OPA, 57.4% for BVM, and 51.3% for neck collar application. The rates of ETI, i-gel insertion, and IV-line establishment increased. The treatment rate for TCA was significantly higher than that for DCA. Conclusions: Prehospital treatments by EMS workers for patients with TCA did not decrease during the COVID-19 pandemic. Instead, the rates of ETI, i-gel insertion, and IV-line establishment increased.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.37 no.6
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• pp.453-455
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• 2005

Two young women were brought to the Emergency room with generalized tonic and clonic seizures. Seizure developed seven and ten days after delivery respectively without the clinical signs of pre-eclampsia throughout the pregnancies. Magnetic resonance(MR) image of the brain showed characteristically symmetrical abnormal signals in the parietal and occipital regions. After several days of medical treatment, they were discharged without neurologic sequelae and follow-up MR images taken three months after discharge showed complete disappearance of the previous abnormal signals.

• Journal of the Korean Burn Society
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• v.23 no.2
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• pp.42-53
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• 2020

Purpose: It is important to consider both clinical factors and epidemiological factors in treating burn patients in emergency rooms. However, many emergency medical staffs happen to miss their chances of treating burns based on these considerations. This study is designed to find a better treatment for burn patients in emergency rooms along this approach. Methods: This study was conducted based on the data of the burn patients visiting the emergency room of a single general hospital from January 2015 to December 2019. The epidemiological and clinical factors were extracted out of the data, then the relationship between the prognosis and these factors were analyzed. Results: Most of burn accidents occurred at home, and were caused by hot water, soup, drinks, oil, etc. Especially, flame burns showed high hospitalization rate, surgical rate and mortality. In addition, their prognosis was poor when the affected area included facial, limb and perineal areas etc., or any inhalation burn co-existed. Also, the hospitalization rate and period increased when the treatment time was delayed or the pre-treatment was taken. There was a strong relationship between prognosis and the period of follow-up when patients were admitted during the period. Conclusion: It is difficult for medical staffs to evaluate prognosis of burns in emergency rooms due to progressive damages. Precise treatment and disposition are essential for patients' good prognosis. Therefore, medical staffs should establish treatment plans by identifying the patient's epidemiological and clinical factors, rather than giving prescriptions based on fragmentary and superficial symptoms.

• Clinical and Experimental Emergency Medicine
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• v.5 no.4
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• pp.219-229
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• 2018

Objective We compared the predictive value of the National Early Warning Score+Lactate (NEWS+L) score with those of other parameters such as the pre-endoscopic Rockall score (PERS), Glasgow-Blatchford score (GBS), and albumin, international normalized ratio, altered mental status, systolic blood pressure, age older than 65 years score (AIMS65) among patients with upper gastrointestinal bleeding (UGIB). Methods We conducted a retrospective study of patients with UGIB during 2 consecutive years. The primary outcome was the composite of in-hospital death, intensive care unit admission, and the need for ${\geq}5$ packs of red blood cell transfusion within 24 hours. Results Among 530 included patients, the composite outcome occurred in 59 patients (19 inhospital deaths, 13 intensive care unit admissions, and 40 transfusions of ${\geq}5$ packs of red blood cells within 24 hours). The area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of the NEWS+L score for the composite outcome was 0.76 (95% confidence interval, 0.70 to 0.82), which demonstrated a significant difference compared to PERS (0.66, 0.59-0.73, P=0.004), but not to GBS (0.70, 0.64-0.77, P=0.141) and AIMS65 (0.76, 0.70-0.83, P=0.999). The sensitivities of NEWS+L scores of 3 (n=34, 6.4%), 4 (n=92, 17.4%), and 5 (n=171, 32.3%) were 100%, 98.3%, and 96.6%, respectively, while the sensitivity of an AIMS65 score of 0 (n=159, 30.0%) was 91.5%. Conclusion The NEWS+L score showed better discriminative performance than the PERS and comparable discriminative performance to the GBS and AIMS65. The NEWS+L score may be used to identify low-risk patients among patients with UGIB.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.16 no.2
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• pp.75-89
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• 2012

Purpose : This research was designed to provide basic data for advanced pre-hospital airway management by comparing the time to ventilation and success rate for tracheal intubation performed with Macintosh laryngoscope and intubating Laryngeal Mask Airway(ILMA) in a manikin. Methods : All participants were novice users among EMT-Paramedic students and were divided into two groups: (1) the group for Macintosh laryngoscope guided tracheal intubation(MLG-TI) (2) the group for ILMA guided tracheal intubation(ILMA-TI). After an introductory lecture and demonstration, each group made an attempt ten tracheal intubation to compare the ventilation time and success rate for tracheal intubation. Results : 1) There was significant difference in the time to ventilation through MLG-TI, the time to first and second ventilation through ILMA-TI of the 10 attempts. 2) The time to first ventilation through ILMA-TI was significantly shorter than that of ventilation through MLG-TI. 3) There was no significant difference between the time to ventilation through MLG-TI and the time to second ventilation through ILMA-TI. 4) The success rates of ILMA-TI were significantly higher than those of MLG-TI. Conclusion : ILMA-TI can be an alternative method for MLG-TI in advanced pre-hospital airway management.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.27 no.3
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• pp.43-49
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• 2014

Purpose: Trauma is one of the most common causes of death for children, and identifying severely injured children quickly in an overcrowded emergency room (ER) is difficult. Therefore, severe injury must be prevented, and the severity of injuries in children must be determined easily from their general characteristics and pre-hospital factors. Methods: Injured children younger than 15 years of age who visited the ER from June 2011 to May 2013 were enrolled. According to the revised trauma score (RTS) of the patients, the study population was divided in two groups, a severe group (RTS<7) and a mild group ($RTS{\geq}7$). The general characteristics and the pre-hospital factors were compared between the two groups. Results: Six hundred seventy-three children were enrolled, their mean age was 8.03 (${\pm}4.45$) years, and 476 (70.73%) patients were male. Of these patients, 22 patients (3.27%) were in the severe group, and 651 patients (96.73%) were in the mild group. Fewer males were in the severe group than in the mild group (50.00% vs. 71.43%, p=0.030), and children in the severe group were younger than children in the mild group (3.50 vs. 8.00 years, p=0.049). In the severe group, toddlers (54.55%, p=0.036) were the most common age group. Severe injuries occurred more often in spring (32.81%) and summer (54.56%) than in autumn (9.09%) and winter (4.55%) (p=0.026). The most common places of injury in the severe group were roads (50.00%, p=0.009), and the most common mechanisms of injury in the severe group were traffic accidents (50.00%), followed by falls (31.82%) (p=0.011). Most severely injured children were transferred by ambulance (72.73%, p=0.000). Conclusion: The results of this study may be helpful for identifying severely injured children quickly in the field and the ER. To prevent severe pediatric injuries, precautions and policies based on these results should be established.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.30 no.4
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• pp.120-125
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• 2017

Purpose: The aim of this study was to identify clinical outcome and characteristics of trauma patients via emergency medical services (EMS). Methods: Medical records of the trauma patients visiting the emergency department were retrospectively collected and analyzed from January 2015 to June 2016 in the single institution. Of 529 registered patients, 371 patients were transported by - were enrolled. The parameters including age, gender, injury mechanism, Glasgow coma scale on arrival, presence of shock (systemic blood pressure <90 mmHg) on arrival, time to arrival from accident to emergency room (ER), need for emergency procedures such as operation or angioembolization, need for intensive care unit (ICU) admission, injury severity score (ISS), the trauma and injury severity score, revised trauma score (RTS), length of stay, and mortality rate were collected. The SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute, Cary, NC, USA) was used for the data analysis. Results: Arrival time from the field to the ER was significantly shorter in EMS group. However, overall outcomes including mortalities, length of stay in the ICU and hospital were same between both groups. Age, ISS, RTS, and injury mechanisms were significantly different in both groups. ISS, RTS, and age showed significant influence on mortality statistically (p<0.05). Conclusions: The time to arrival of EMS was fast but had no effect on length of hospital stay, mortality rate. Further research that incorporates pre-hospital factors influence clinical outcomes should be conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of such a system in trauma care of Korea.

• Journal of Trauma and Injury
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• v.34 no.2
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• pp.87-97
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• 2021

Purpose: This study examined emergency medical service (EMS) transportation patterns for adult trauma patients before and after establishing a level 1 regional trauma center (RTC) and to evaluate the transportation approach after prehospital severity screening. Methods: This was a retrospective observational study of trauma patients aged ≥18 years admitted via EMS to the emergency department or a level 1 RTC, 1 year before to 3 years after RTC establishment. Patients with an Injury Severity Score (ISS) in the patient registration system were selected. Analyses were performed to determine transportation pattern changes by comparing patients pre- and post-RTC establishment and by yearly comparisons over the 4-year study period using the Mann-Whitney U test and chi-square test. Results: Overall, 3,587 patients were included. The mean ISS was higher in the post-RTC group (n=2,693; 10.63±8.90, median 9.00) than in the pre-RTC group (n=894; 9.44±8.20, median 8.00; p<0.001). The mean transportation distance (9.84±13.71, median 5.80 vs. 13.12±16.15 km, median 6.00; p<0.001) was longer in the post-RTC group than in the pre-RTC group. Furthermore, proportionally fewer patients were transported from an area in the same city as the RTC after establishment (86.1% vs. 78.3%; p<0.001). Yearly comparisons revealed a gradually increasing trend in the hospital death rate (ptrend=0.031). Conclusions: After establishing a level 1 RTC, the EMS transportation of severe trauma patients increased gradually along with the long-distance transportation of minor trauma patients. Therefore, improved prehospital EMS trauma severity assessments and level 1 RTC involvement in patient classification in the prehospital phase are necessary.

• The Korean Journal of Emergency Medical Services
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• v.25 no.3
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• pp.7-16
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• 2021

Purpose: The I-gel device is Korea's most frequently used airway management method during pre-hospital cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR). This study aimed to compare changes in ventilation volume according to the fixation method with a simulated manikin. Methods: We placed I-gel into an advanced life support simulator and compared tape and band fixation conditions. CPR was performed according to the 2020 Korean CPR guidelines, using a mechanical chest compression device and an adult bag. The positional shift of I-gel and the ventilation volume of the simulated manikin were measured after performing CPR for 20 minutes. Five trials were carried out in each setting. Statistical analysis was carried out with SPSS 27.0. P < .05 was considered significant. Results: Positional shift after 20 minutes of CPR was as follows: tape fixation, 7.2 ± 0.2 mm; band fixation, no change, indicating a significant difference between the two groups (p=.003). The mean ventilation volume was tape fixation, 482.63 ± 30.84 mL; band fixation, 544.96 ± 22.98 mL, showing a significant difference (p=.002). Conclusion: When using the I-gel during pre-hospital CPR, using a band-type fixing device with elasticity rather than fixing the tape provides stable and appropriate ventilation by maintaining the fixed position.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.33 no.4
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• pp.386-394
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• 2020

Background: In the emergency department (ED), adequate pain control is essential for managing patients; however, children with pain are known to receive less analgesia than adults with pain. We introduce the Pain Passport to improve pain management in paediatric patients with suspected fractures in the ED. Methods: This was a before-and-after study. We reviewed the medical records of paediatric patients who were primarily diagnosed with fractures from May to August 2015. After the introduction of the Pain Passport, eligible children were enrolled from May to August 2016. Demographics, analgesic administration rates, time intervals between ED arrival and analgesic administration, and satisfaction scores were obtained. We compared the analgesic prescription rate between the two periods using multiple logistic regression. Results: A total of 58 patients were analysed. The baseline characteristics of subjects during the two periods were not significantly different. Before the introduction of the Pain Passport, 9 children (31.0%) were given analgesics, while after the introduction of the Pain Passport, a significantly higher percentage of patients (24/29, 82.8%) were treated with analgesics (P < 0.001). The median administration times were 112 (interquartile range [IQR], 64-150) minutes in the pre-intervention period and 24 (IQR, 20-74) minutes in the post-intervention period. The median satisfaction score for the post-intervention period was 4 (IQR, 3-5). The adjusted odds ratio for providing analgesics in the post-intervention period was 25.91 (95% confidence interval, 4.36-154.02). Conclusions: Patient-centred pain scoring with the Pain Passport improved pain management in patients with suspected fractures in the paediatric ED.