• Journal of the Korean Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons
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• v.47 no.4
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• pp.335-336
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• 2021

The oculocardiac reflex is a trigeminal-vagal reflex that manifests as cardiac arrythmias, most often bradycardia. The reflex can be triggered by manipulation of periorbital structures and unintended pressure on the bulbus oculi maxillofacial procedures. In this brief communication, we describe an unusual trigger of the oculocardiac reflex during maxillofacial surgery that resulted in severe bradycardia. This case highlights the need for careful securement of medical devices and attention to surgical technique to avoid undue pressure on draped fascial structures.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.35 no.4
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• pp.403-412
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• 2022

Background: Most pain management techniques for challenging procedures are still performed under the guidance of the C-arm fluoroscope although it is sometimes difficult for even experienced clinicians to understand the modified three-dimensional anatomy as a two-dimensional X-ray image. To overcome these difficulties, the development of a virtual simulator may be helpful. Therefore, in this study, the authors developed a virtual simulator and presented its clinical application cases. Methods: We developed a computer program to simulate the actual environment of the procedure. Computed tomography (CT) Digital Imaging and Communications in Medicine (DICOM) data were used for the simulations. Virtual needle placement was simulated at the most appropriate position for a successful block. Using a virtual C-arm, the authors searched for the position of the C-arm at which the needle was visualized as a point. The positional relationships between the anatomy of the patient and the needle were identified. Results: For the simulations, the CT DICOM data of patients who visited the outpatient clinic was used. When the patients revisited the clinic, images similar to the simulated images were obtained by manipulating the C-arm. Transforaminal epidural injection, which was difficult to perform due to severe spinal deformity, and the challenging procedures of the superior hypogastric plexus block and Gasserian ganglion block, were successfully performed with the help of the simulation. Conclusions: We created a pre-procedural virtual simulation and demonstrated its successful application in patients who are expected to undergo challenging procedures.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.34 no.1
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• pp.4-18
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• 2021

Except for carbamazepine for trigeminal neuralgia, gabapentinoid anticonvulsants have been the standard for the treatment of neuropathic pain. Pregabalin, which followed gabapentin, was developed with the benefit of rapid peak blood concentration and better bioavailability. Mirogabalin besylate (DS-5565, Tarlige®) shows greater sustained analgesia due to a high affinity to, and slow dissociation from, the α2δ-1 subunits in the dorsal root ganglion (DRG). Additionally, it produces a lower level of central nervous system-specific adverse drug reactions (ADRs), due to a low affinity to, and rapid dissociation from, the α2δ-2 subunits in the cerebellum. Maximum plasma concentration is achieved in less than 1 hour, compared to 1 hour for pregabalin and 3 hours for gabapentin. The plasma protein binding is relatively low, at less than 25%. As with all gabapentinoids, it is also largely excreted via the kidneys in an unchanged form, and so the administration dose should also be adjusted according to renal function. The equianalgesic daily dose for 30 mg of mirogabalin is 600 mg of pregabalin and over 1,200 mg of gabapentin. The initial adult dose starts at 5 mg, given orally twice a day, and is gradually increased by 5 mg at an interval of at least a week, to 15 mg. In conclusion, mirogabalin is anticipated to be a novel, safe gabapentinoid anticonvulsant with a greater therapeutic effect for neuropathic pain in the DRG and lower ADRs in the cerebellum.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.59 no.6
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• pp.637-642
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• 2016

Objective : Although many treatment modalities have been introduced for trigeminal neuralgia (TN), the long-term clinical results remain unsatisfactory. It has been particularly challenging to determine an appropriate treatment strategy for patients who have responded poorly to initial therapies. We analyzed the surgical outcomes in TN patients who failed prior treatments. Methods : We performed a retrospective analysis of 37 patients with recurrent or persistent TN symptoms who underwent surgery at our hospital between January 2010 and December 2014. Patients with follow-up data of at least one year were included. The prior treatment modalities of the 37 patients included microvascular decompression (MVD), gamma knife radiosurgery (GKRS), and percutaneous procedures such as radiofrequency rhizotomy (RFR), balloon compression, and glycerol rhizotomy (GR). The mean follow-up period was 69.9 months (range : 16-173). The mean interval between the prior treatment and second surgery was 26 months (range : 7-123). We evaluated the surgical outcomes using the Barrow Neurological Institute (BNI) pain intensity scale. Results : Among the 37 recurrent or persistent TN patients, 22 underwent MVD with partial sensory rhizotomy (PSR), 8 received MVD alone, and 7 had PSR alone. Monitoring of the surgical treatment outcomes via the BNI pain intensity scale revealed 8 (21.6%) patients with a score of I, 13 (35.1%) scoring II, 13 (35.1%) scoring III, and 3 (8.2%) scoring IV at the end of the follow-up period. Overall, 91.8% of patients had good surgical outcomes. With regard to postoperative complications, 1 patient had transient cerebrospinal fluid rhinorrhea (2.7%), another had a subdural hematoma (2.7%), and facial sensory changes were noted in 8 (21.1%) patients after surgery. Conclusion : Surgical interventions, such as MVD and PSR, are safe and very effective treatment modalities in TN patients who failed initial or prior treatments. We presume that the combination of MVD with PSR enabled us to obtain good short- and long-term surgical outcomes. Therefore, aggressive surgical treatment should be considered in patients with recurrent TN despite failure of various treatment modalities.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
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• v.64 no.6
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• pp.966-974
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• 2021

Objective : To explore the clinical efficacy and safety of microvascular decompression (MVD) combined with internal neurolysis (IN) in the treatment of recurrent trigeminal neuralgia (TN) after MVD. Methods : Sixty-four patients with recurrent TN admitted to the hospital from January 2014 to December 2017 were divided into two groups according to the surgical method. Twenty-nine patients, admitted from January 2014 to December 2015, were treated with MVD alone, whereas 35 admitted from January 2016 to December 2017 were treated with MVD+IN. The postoperative efficacy, complications, and pain recurrence rate of the two groups were analyzed. Results : The efficacy of the MVD+IN and MVD groups were 88.6% and 86.2%, and the cure rates were 77.1% and 65.5% respectively. There was no statistically significant difference between the two groups (p>0.05). The cure rate (83.3%) of patients in the MVD+IN group, who were only found thickened arachnoid adhesions during the operation that could not be fully released, was significantly higher than that of the MVD group (30.0%) (p<0.05), while the efficacy (91.7% vs. 70%) of the two groups was not statistically different (p>0.05). For patients whose arachnoid adhesions were completely released, there had no significant difference (p>0.05) in the efficacy (87% vs. 94.7%) and recurrence rate (5.0% vs. 11.1%). The incidence of postoperative facial numbness (88.6%) in the MVD+IN group was higher than that in the MVD group (10.3%) (p<0.01). The long-term incidence of facial numbness was not statistically significant (p>0.05). In the 18-36 months follow-up, the recurrence rate of patients in the MVD+IN group (9.7%) and in the MVD group (16%) were not statistically different (p>0.05). Conclusion : A retrospective comparison of patients with recurrent TN showed that both MVD and MVD combined with IN can effectively treat recurrent TN. Compared with MVD alone, MVD combined with IN can effectively improve the pain cure rate of patients with recurrent TN who have only severe arachnoid adhesions. The combination does not increase the incidence of long-term facial numbness and other complications.

• Journal of The Korean Dental Society of Anesthesiology
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• v.3 no.2 s.5
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• pp.92-97
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• 2003

Background: Gabapentin is a novel anti-epileptic drug, which is used in clinical practice to treat epilepsy. This drug is also used as an analgesic in pain patients. The antinociceptive effect of this drug was assessed using the formalin test in the rat. Methods: In order to investigate the effects of gabapentin on the trigeminal nerve territory, we injected 0.5% formalin into the upper lip. Adult, male, Sprague-Dawley rats received a $50{\mu}l$ subcutaneous injection of 5% formalin into one vibrissal pad and the consequent, facial grooming behavior was monitored. Consistent with previous investigations using tile formalin model, animals exhibited biphasic nocifensive grooming (phase 1, 0-12 min; phase 2, 12-60 min). Results: The intraperitoneal administration gabapentin 5 minutes prior to the formalin injection led to a significant, dose-dependent reduction in grooming time during phase 2. In high doses, gabapentin also reduced the time of grooming during phase 1. Conclusions: The Intraperitoneal injection of gabapentin has an analgesic effect in the facial formalin rat model and this analgesic effect increases dose-dependently.

• Journal of Dental Rehabilitation and Applied Science
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• v.32 no.2
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• pp.102-108
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• 2016

Headache disorders, one of most common disease in general population, have been developed according to many versions of international classifications. The primary headaches are those in which no consistently identified organic cause can be determined. It is divided into the following categories: (1) migraine, (2) tension-type headache, (3) cluster headache and other trigeminal autonomic cephalalgias, (4) other primary headaches. This review described a diagnosis of primary headache disorders based on International Classification of Headache Disorders (ICHD)-3 beta criteria.

• Applied Microscopy
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• v.28 no.3
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• pp.255-262
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• 1998

This study was performed to observe the morphological changes of the synaptic structures in the interpolar part of the spinal trigeminal nucleus of rat during aging. Transmission electron microscopy has been used to determine the r)umber of synapses, length of postsynaptic densities, number and area of axon terminals. Sprague-Dawley rat 3, 12, 24 and 36 months of age were used in this study. 1. The number of synapses was 51.7, 43.1, 28.4 and 16.8 in the 3, 12, 24 and 36 months of age respectively. Therefore, the number of synapses decreased gradually with age, but decreased significantly in the 24 and 36 months. 2. The length of postsynaptic densities was $30.2{\mu}m,\;23.6{\mu}m,\;10.4{\mu}m\;and\;4.9{\mu}m$ in the 3, 12, 24 and 36 months of age respectively. Therefore, the length of postsynaptic densities decreased gradually with age, but decreased significantly in the 24 and 36months. 3. The number of axon terminals was 84.3, 73.7, 51.4 and 26.6 in the 3, 12, 24 and 36 months of age respectively. Therefore, the number of axon terminals decreased gradually with age, but decreased significantly in the 24 and 36months. 4. The area of axon terminals was $76.1{\mu}m^2,\;64.1{\mu}m^2,\;29.9{\mu}m^2\;and\;13.8{\mu}m^2$ in the 3, 12, 24 and 36 months of age respectively. Therefore, the area of axon terminals decreased gradilally with age, but decreased significantly in the 24 and 36 months. The results suggest that there are the changes of the synaptic structures in the interpolar part of spinal trigeminal nucleus of rat during aging. These changes nay be concerned to the decreased function of mediating pain and temperature sensation in the face and oral cavity during aging.

• The korean journal of orthodontics
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• v.27 no.4 s.63
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• pp.607-621
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• 1997

GRP was known as the modulator of Pain transmission in central nervous system and local effector to peripheral tissue causing vasodilation, increased blood flow, modulation of immune sysem, stimulation of endothelial cell proliferation, and stimulation of bone formation. Numerous study, therefore, were done to elucidate involvement of CGRP to tooth movement. To investgate the response of CGRP immunoreactive nerve cells according to cell size in trigeminal ganglion during tooth movement, immunohistochemical study was performed using rat. Experimental rats(9 weeks old, 210 gm) were divided as six groups(normal(n=6), 3 hour group(n=5), 12 hour group(n=4), 1 day group(n=5), 3 day group(n=5), 7 day group(n=5)), and were applied orthodontic force (approximately 30 gm) to upper right maxillary molar. After frozen sections of trigeminal ganglions were immunostained using rabbit antisera, the changes of CGRP immunoreactive cells in regard to cell size distribution(small cell(upto $20{\mu}m$), medium cell($20-35{\mu}m$), large cell(above $35{\mu}m$)) were observed. The results were as follows 1. The percentage of CGRP immunoreactive cells to all nerve cells in trigeminal ganglion was 33.0% in normal control group, was decreased to 24.5% in 1 day group, and was increased to 41.8% in 7 day group. 2. The percentage of small, medium, and large cells expressing CGRP immunoreactivity in normal trigeminal ganglion to all CGRP immunoreactive cells were 51.3%, 44.0%, 4.7%, respectively. 3. The percentage of small cells with CGRP immunoreactivity to all CGRP immunopositive cells was increased in 3 hour and 12 hour groups. 4. The percentage of medium cells with CGRP immunoreactivity was increaed in 3 day and 7 day groups. 5. The percentage of large cells with CGRP immunoreactivity was increaed in 7 day group. Conclusively, the small cells with CGRP immunoreactivity in trigeminal ganglion respond to orthodontic force during initial phase of tooth movement, and later the medium and large cells with CGRP immunoreactivity respond

• Journal of Dental Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
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• v.24 no.1
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• pp.47-56
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• 2024

Background: Among the various pain-related diseases that can be encountered at the clinic, there is a neuropathic pain that is difficult to treat. Numerous methods have been proposed to treat neuropathic pain, such as taking medication, nerve block with lidocaine, or neurolysis with alcohol or phenol. Recently, a method of perineural injection using dextrose instead of lidocaine was proposed. This study was designed to compare the effects of perineural injection therapy (PIT) with buffered 5% dextrose or 0.5% lidocaine on neuropathic pain. Methods: The data were collected from the database of pain clinic from August 1st, 2019 to December 31st, 2022 without any personal information. The inclusion criteria were patients diagnosed with postherpetic neuralgia (PHN), trigeminal neuralgia (TN), complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS), or peripheral neuropathy (PN), and patients who had undergone PIT with buffered 5% dextrose (Dextrose group) or 0.5% lidocaine (Lidocaine group) for pain control. The data of patients, namely sex, age, and pain score (numerical rating scale, NRS) were collected before PIT. The data of NRS, side effects, and satisfaction grade (excellent, good, fair, or poor) were collected one week after each of the four PIT, and two weeks after the last PIT. Results: Overall, 112 subjects were enrolled. The Dextrose group included 89 and Lidocaine group included 23 patients. Because the number of patients in the Lidocaine group was too small to allow statistical analysis, the trend in Lidocaine group was just observed in each disease. There were no significant side effects except for a few bruise cases on the site of injection in all groups. The NRS in most Dextrose groups except CRPS were reduced significantly; however, the Lidocaine group showed a trend of pain reduction only in PHN. The Dextrose group except CRPS showed increased satisfaction two weeks after the final PIT. Conclusion: From the results, it is suggested that PIT with buffered 5% dextrose may have a good effect for neuropathic pain without any side effect except for patients with CRPS. This may offer a window into a new tool that practitioners can employ in their quest to help patients with neuropathic pain.