• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.54 no.3
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• pp.151-157
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• 2014

A nationwide survey on radiation safety management in Korean animal hospitals was conducted. By 2013, 53 radiation generators were registered as veterinary medical devices (41 X-ray generators and 12 computed tomography scanners). Additionally there were six approved laboratories for radiation equipment and protection facility, and five approved laboratories for radiation exposure of employees, respectively. By March 2013, 2,030 out of 3,829 animal hospitals operated radiation-generating devices. Among these devices, 389 (19.2%) out of 2,030 were not labeled with the model name and 746 (36.7%) were not labeled with production dates. Thus, most veterinary X-ray generators were outdated (42.6%) and needed replacements. When periodic inspections of 2,018 animal hospitals were performed after revision of the Veterinarians Act in 2011, the hospitals were found to be equipped with appropriate radiation generators and protection facilities. Among 2,545 employees exposed to radiation at the hospitals, 93.9% were veterinarians, 4.3% were animal nurse technicians, and 18% held other positions. Among 169 employees supervised by administrators, none of those had a weekly maximum operating load that exceeded $10mA{\cdot}min$. This study suggests that the radiation safety management system of animal hospitals was general good.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.39 no.6
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• pp.326-333
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• 2022

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the radiographic positioning techniques used in local animal hospitals, identify the most common positioning problem, and determine whether there were changes after teleradiology consultations. From September 2016 to April 2021, 15 local animal hospitals that requested radiographic interpretation more than 10 times and for more than six cases of thoracic radiographs were selected. Six sets of two-views of (lateral and ventrodorsal [VD] or dorsoventral [DV] views) digital thoracic radiographs from six dogs per hospital were evaluated in four categories. For the lateral view, radiographic technique scores used in ten local animal hospitals improved, one remained the same, and four became worse. For the VD/DV view, the score for eleven hospitals improved and worsened for four. The most common problem was rotation (57/90) for the lateral view, followed by an inappropriate field of view (59/90), and incorrect beam center (71/90). For the VD/DV view, an inappropriate field of view (54/90) was the most common problem, followed by asymmetry (63/90), and incorrect beam center (73/90). Every factor, except rotation in the lateral view, improved after obtaining technical consultation; however, the degrees of improvement were not remarkable. There was no significant correlation between the number of requests and the degree of improvement. According to the results, the radiographic technique used in local animal hospitals was improved by technical advice on teleradiology. These changes make it possible to provide accurate diagnoses of the requested images. There are some limitations regarding the indicators of evaluation and the number of cases; therefore, further studies that use detailed indicators in large cohort group are needed. In addition, an effective method of teaching should be developed to improve radiographic techniques in local animal hospitals.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.24 no.3
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• pp.386-393
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• 2014

Possible cross-transmission of hospital-associated enterococci between human patients, medical staff, and hospital environments has been extensively studied. However, limited information is available for veterinary hospital-associated Enterococcus isolates. This study investigated the possibility of cross-transmission of antibiotic-resistant enterococci between dog patients, their owners, veterinary staff, and hospital environments. Swab samples (n=465) were obtained from five veterinary hospitals in Seoul, Korea, during 2011. Forty-three Enterococcus strains were isolated, representing seven enterococcal species. E. faecalis and E. faecium were the most dominant species (16 isolates each, 37.2%). Although slight differences in the antibiotic resistance profiles were observed between the phenotypic and the genotypic data, our antibiogram analysis demonstrated high prevalence of the multiple drug-resistant (MDR) isolates of E. faecalis (10/16 isolates, 62.5%) and E. faecium (12/16 isolates, 75.0%). Pulsed-field gel electrophoretic comparison of the MDR isolates revealed three different clonal sets of E. faecalis and a single set of E. faecium, which were isolated from different sample groups or dog patients at the same or two separate veterinary hospitals. These results imply a strong possibility of cross-transmission of the antibiotic-resistant enterococcal species between animal patients, owners, veterinary staff, and hospital environments.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.28 no.4
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• pp.408-414
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• 2011

This study was carried out to analyze the utilization of ultrasound machines in animal hospitals and focused on surveying the present condition of diagnostic ultrasound on veterinary medicine in South Korea. Total 279 veterinary hospitals were surveyed with e-mail questionnaires or telephone survey. E-mail questionnaires consist of 17 items of questions including existence of ultrasound machine, types of ultrasound machine, ultrasound examination costs, frequency, purposes, other diagnostic imaging equipments, and referring system of ultrasound. Telephone surveys asked about the existence of the ultrasound machine and types of the ultrasound machine to 279 animal hospitals. Two hundred and seventy-one out of 279 animal hospitals holds ultrasound machine. Seventy-two percents clinics purchased used ultrasonographic machines and mean years after the date of manufacture is 7.5 years and the proportion of superannuated machines are relatively high. Also many clinicians prefer single organ scanning rather than general scan technique and more than 60% of clinics perform ultrasonographic examination less than 5 times a week. Clinics located in Seoul area tend to have more expensive and brand-new ultrasonographic machines and the distribution of radiology specialist are higher in this area. Problems associated with the present condition were oversupply of machines, unequal distribution of the medical equipment in different localities, ineffective use of the medical equipment, and high percentage of old poor-quality medical equipments. There should be a viable alternative proposal to control amount and quality of the ultrasound machines. Also, the improved management system for the ultrasound machine is required.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.259-263
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• 1982

Observations were made on the infection rate of common internal parasites in dogs in Kwangju area from January to March, 1982. Dog's stools were collected from veterinary hospitals, houses, intensive dog-rearing places and sidewalks. On the basis of egg counting, the following results were obtained; 1. Of 464 fecal samples, 73.5% were appeared as positive. 2. Dogs from veterinary hospitals and intensive dog-rearing places have higher infection rates than others. 3. Of the parasites detected, Toxocara canis was the most commonly encountered (23.7%). 4. Ascarids, flukes and coccidia were more prevalent in pups than in mature dogs, whereas bookworms were detected less often in young dogs than in older ones. 5. There were significant (p<0.01) differences among age categories for all parasites except tapeworms.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.425-432
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• 2010

Staphylococcus intermedius is a common cause of otitis externa, pyoderma, and wound infections in companion animals. Although S. intermedius infections are rare in humans, it is zoonotic, with several case reports describing fatal human infections. Presently, we sought to isolate S. intermedius strains from various sources at animal hospitals nationwide in Korea, examine their antibiotic susceptibilities, and determine the possibility of horizontal transmission between animals and humans. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (pFGE) was used to compare the mecA gene in S. intermedius strains from humans, animals, and the environment in animal hospitals. A total of 119 S. intermedius strains were isolated from 529 samples. Using the disk diffusion method, over 90% of the isolates were found to be susceptible to cephalothin, amoxicillin-clavulanic acid, vancomycin, imipenem, nitroflurantoin, and amikacin, whereas 97.5% and 98.3% of the isolates were resistant to penicillin and ampicillin, respectively. Among the 39 S. intermedius strains harboring mecA, similar PFGE patterns were observed between seven isolates from an animal, two isolates from veterinary staff, and the environment in one animal hospital, and single isolates from an animal and a veterinarian at another hospital. This result suggests the possibility of horizontal transmission of S. intermedius containing mecA between humans, animals, and the environment in animal hospitals and also emphasizes on the importance of S. intermedius with mecA as a possible emerging threat to public health.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.29 no.1
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• pp.49-57
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• 2012

Success of any business solely is dependant on how to satisfy clients in healthcare-related industry. In the short history of Korea pet-care industry, there were not many guidelines on client satisfaction management of companion animal hospitals. The studies on many pet healthcare facilities were conducted based on their cost-benefits and the advantages of medical operation within special features of the traditional hospital management system. However the companion animal hospitals recently need to improve the service quality and client closed communication in keen competition on pet healthcare market. This study explores client satisfaction management could be the new issue of the veterinary hospital business. And it finally suggests of the critical factors affecting successful client satisfaction management of companion animal hospital based on the eight case studies.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.50-55
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• 2005

We investigated the contamination of animal hospital floor, beauty table, computer keyboard, exam table, operation table and forcep handle by isolations of aerobic bacteria in small animal hospitals in Gwangju. The total number of aerobic bacteria was 52 isolates and Staphylococcus spp. (38 isolates) were the predominant isolates (69.71 %) of them. The prevalent contaminated areas were floor (17 isolates), beauty table (13 isolates) and computer keyboard (9 isolates). The detection of methicillin-resistant (mecA) gene, determined by PCR, showed that 3 of the 17 coagulase-negative Staphylococcus spp. (CNS) isolates possessed the mecA gene. For evaluating the antibiotic susceptibility patterns of the isolates, disk diffusion method was used. The majority of isolates showed high susceptibility to amoxicillin (92.1 %), ceftiofur (84.2%) and polymixin B (73.7%). Also they showed the high resistant to ampicilline (66.7%), penicillin (65%) and kanamycin (56.5%). These results suggest extensive contamination of aerobic bacteria in animal hospital environment.

• Journal of Veterinary Science
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• v.21 no.5
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• pp.70.1-70.7
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• 2020

Background: Oral neoplasia has been reported to account for 6-7% of all canine cancer and 3% of all feline cancers. To the authors' knowledge the last epidemiologic analysis of general oral cancer in dogs and cats was published in 1976. Objectives: The goal of this study was to report contemporary demographic information regarding oral tumors in dogs and cats. Methods: Information was collected from cats or dogs diagnosed with oral neoplasia from the Veterinary Medical Data Base. Medical records representing cases that presented to one of 26 veterinary teaching hospitals from January 1, 1996 through December 31, 2017 were included. Results: A total of 1,810 dogs and 443 cats were identified. A total of 962 cases (53.6%) of canine oral tumors were classified as malignant and 455 cases as benign (25.4%). The majority of feline oral tumors were classified as malignant (257 cases, 58.1%) and only a few benign (11 cases, 2.5%). The incidence of oral tumors was calculated to be 4.9 per 1,000 dogs (0.5%) and 4.9 per 1,000 cats (0.5%). Conclusions: This incidence of oral tumors is considerably higher than previously reported in both dogs and cats. These results provide valuable information for generation of hypotheses for future investigations of breed-based and pathology-based oral neoplastic studies.

• Journal of Veterinary Clinics
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• v.37 no.1
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• pp.15-22
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• 2020

This study investigated the effectiveness of radiation safety rules in animal hospital and the awareness and behavior of veterinary radiation workers. With the questionnaires, the data was collected from randomly selected veterinarians in animal hospitals and animal medical imaging centers. Collected data were about radiation device, shielding device, regulations, safety management, education, knowledge, behavior and awareness. Frequency, correlation and multiple regression analysis were performed. The medical devices related with radiation in animal hospital were X-ray (59%), CT (15%), fluoroscopy (12%), mobile X-ray (12%) and others (2%). The number of people using radiation shielding device is high. The answers were low on knowing radiation related regulation and receiving radiation protection education. The group with higher knowledge and awareness shows positive correlation with safety behavior. The increase of use of the radiation related medical devices in veterinary hospital causes the increase of radiation exposure risk. This study suggests that radiation safety management system and policies need to be developed to protect radiation workers and give them correct information and consciousness.