PURPOSE: The aim of this prospective study was to evaluate the effect of metronidazole for wound infection by using intra-incisional infiltration before appendectomy. METHODS: From January to May 2000, 176 patients with acute appendicitis received appendectomy. All patients were randomly divided into two groups. Group I (n=50) was the treatment group and group II (n=126) was the control group. After anesthesizing the patients of group I, 7.5 mg/kg of metronidazole was injected into subcutaneous tissue and muscle. All patients of group I and II were given intravenous injection of cephalosporin and intravenous or intramuscular injection of aminoglycoside. RESULTS: In the 50 cases of group I, the rate of wound infection was 2% and the rate of wound infection in the 126 cases of group II was 4.8%. The rate of anaerobic bacteria of organisms cultured from wound of patients with infection was 0% in group I and 33% in group II. The statistical analysis using chi-square test was not significant (p=0.676) but the rate of wound infection was reduced, especially in infection caused by anaerobic bacteria. CONCLUSIONS: The rate of wound infection was not significant statistically but it was reduced after intra-incisional infiltration of metronidazole. Therefore we suggest that this method can be one of methods that reduce the rate of wound infection after appendectomy.
Appendectomy* ; Appendicitis ; Bacteria, Anaerobic ; Humans ; Injections, Intramuscular ; Injections, Intravenous ; Metronidazole* ; Prospective Studies ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Wound Infection* ; Wounds and Injuries*

Complex regional pain syndrome is pain disorder which is characterized by aching pain, marked painful sensation, hypothermesthesia, vasomotor dysfunction, hyperhidrosis, impairment of motor function, trophic changes of distal part of not-operated extremity after trauma and operation. Pain produce increased sensitivity to catecholamine and diagnosed by infra red thermography and Treatment consists of pain relief and rehabilitational therapy for functional restoration of affected limb. We experienced a case of complex regional pain syndrome in a 16-year-old man after wedge resection of pulmonary apex for bullae and report this case with a review of the literature.
Adolescent ; Blister ; Extremities ; Humans ; Hyperhidrosis ; Lung* ; Pneumothorax ; Sensation ; Somatoform Disorders ; Thermography

To determine whether age, weight, height, vertebral column length, body mass index, or abdominal circumference might influence the distribution of sensory analgesia after epidural anesthesia, 100 women presenting for cesarean section were studied. All received 26 mg of 2.0% lidocaine mixed with 8.4% bicarbonate 1 ml/lidocaine 10 ml and 1:300,000 epinephrine, including 3 ml of test dose, through the epidural catheter inserted in L3-4 interspace. While the women lay supine on a horizontal operating table with the air bag under their right hip, 2, 5, 10, 20, and 30 minutes after injection, the cephalad extent of sensory analgesia (loss of sensation of sharpness to pin prick) was determined. Age (31.9+/-3.8 years), weight (69.2+/-9.3 kg), height (158.9+/-4,5 cm), vertebral column length (59.8+/-5.0 cm), body mass index (27.4+/-3.2 kg/m(2)), and abdominal circumference (103.5+/-10.2 cm) did not correlate with the maximum level of sensory analgesia. In conclusion, in parturients of age, weight, height, vertebral column length, body mass index and aMominal circumference of the above values, it is not necerrary to vary dose of injected local anesthetics with changes in any of the patient variables studied.
Air Bags ; Analgesia ; Anesthesia, Epidural* ; Anesthetics, Local ; Body Mass Index ; Catheters ; Cesarean Section* ; Epinephrine ; Female ; Hip ; Humans ; Lidocaine ; Operating Tables ; Pregnancy ; Sensation ; Spine

Armeniacae semen (AS) has been considered a toxic herb in the Korean medicine as it contains hydrogen cyanide and amygdalin, especially in its endocarp. Therefore, prebrewed AS that is devoid of endocarp has been traditionally used. In the present study, amygdalin content of the prebrewed AS was significantly lower (2.73 +/- 0.32 microg/ml; p < 0.01) than the content in the extract that contained the endocarps (28.50 +/- 6.71 microg/ml); amygdalin content corresponded to 10% of the extract in the present study. Because of single oral dose toxicity of prebrewed AS according to the recommendation of Korea Food and Drug Administration Guidelines (2009-116, 2009), which was based on single oral dose toxicity study of prebrewed AS, mortality due to toxic principles was significantly reduced. In this study, 2,000 mg/kg of prebrewed AS led to death of 1 female rat and 1 male rat at the end of 2 hr of administration. Based on these results, the 50% lethal dose in both male and female rats was determined to be 9279.5 mg/kg. Seizure, loss of locomotion, and increases in respiration and heart rate were observed as prebrewed AS treatment-related toxicological signs; these signs were restrictedly manifested in the prebrewed AS (2,000 mg/kg)-treated rats. In addition, no changes were observed in body weight, organ weight, gross features, and histopathological parameters with 2,000 mg/kg of AS in both male and female rats. These findings serve as direct evidence that amygdalin in AS is the toxic principle, which can be reduced by the traditional prebrewing method involving the exclusion of endocarp.
Amygdalin ; Animals ; Body Weight ; Female ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Hydrogen Cyanide ; Korea ; Locomotion ; Male ; Organ Size ; Rats ; Respiration ; Seizures ; Semen ; United States Food and Drug Administration

BACKGROUND: The National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale (NIHSS) is regarded as a valid and reliable tool to measure the severity of neurological deficits in acute stroke, but has been criticized for its complexity and variability. Therefore, the modified NIHSS (mNIHSS) was developed, eliminating redundant and less reliable items from the full version of the NIHSS. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the validity of the mNIHSS according to the subtypes of stroke and the location of affected arterial territories. METHODS: The severity of stroke in 155 patients with acute cerebral infarction was measured. Each patient was evaluated by two neurologists using both the NIHSS and mNIHSS, and the stroke subtype was determined according to the TOAST classification. The vascular territory of lesion was classified into an anterior and posterior circulation. The criterion-related validity was evaluated by the Pearson Correlation Coefficient between the NIHSS and mNIHSS scores. RESULTS: When considering the NIHSS scores as the gold criteria, the Pearson correlation coefficients of the mNIHSS were 0.96 in the subtype of large artery atherosclerosis, 0.91 in small vessel occlusion, 0.98 in cardioembolism, and 0.99 in undetermined etiology. On the other hand, the correlation coefficient was 0.98 in patients with an anterior circulation infarction, and was 0.94 in patients with a posterior circulation infarction. CONCLUSIONS: The criterion-related validity of the mNIHSS scoring system was very high in general. However, the correlations were relatively low in patients with the TOAST subtype of small vessel occlusion and also a posterior circulation infarction.
Arteries ; Atherosclerosis ; Cerebral Infarction* ; Classification* ; Hand ; Humans ; Infarction ; National Institutes of Health (U.S.) ; Stroke*

PURPOSE: A morphologic contour method for assessing an exophytic renal mass as benign versus malignant on the basis of the shape of the interface with the renal parenchyma was recently developed. We investigated the usefulness of this morphologic contour method for predicting angiomyolipoma (AML) in patients who underwent partial nephrectomy for small renal masses (SRMs). MATERIALS AND METHODS: From January 2004 to March 2013, among 197 patients who underwent partial nephrectomy for suspicious renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the medical records of 153 patients with tumors (AML or RCC) < or =3 cm in diameter were retrospectively reviewed. Patient characteristics including age, gender, type of surgery, size and location of tumor, pathologic results, and specific findings of the imaging study ("ice-cream cone" shape) were compared between the AML and RCC groups. RESULTS: AML was diagnosed in 18 patients and RCC was diagnosed in 135 patients. Gender (p=0.001), tumor size (p=0.032), and presence of the ice-cream cone shape (p=0.001) showed statistically significant differences between the AML group and the RCC group. In the multivariate logistic regression analysis, female gender (odds ratio [OR], 5.20; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.45 to 18.57; p=0.011), tumor size (OR, 0.34; 95% CI, 0.12 to 0.92; p=0.034), and presence of the ice-cream cone shape (OR, 18.12; 95% CI, 4.97 to 66.06; p=0.001) were predictors of AML. CONCLUSIONS: This study confirmed a high incidence of AML in females. Also, the ice-cream cone shape and small tumor size were significant predictors of AML in SRMs. These finding could be beneficial for counseling patients with SRMs.
Angiomyolipoma ; Carcinoma, Renal Cell ; Counseling ; Diagnostic Imaging ; Female ; Humans ; Incidence ; Kidney ; Logistic Models ; Medical Records ; Nephrectomy ; Retrospective Studies

Cases of self-inserted foreign bodies in the male urethra and urinary bladder are unusual. In most cases, the type of foreign body can be identified by taking a history or from radiological findings; sometimes, however, it is difficult to identify the foreign body because of decreased mental capacity of the patient or unknown radiological characteristics of the foreign body. We experienced a chronic alcoholic patient with septicemia and penile necrosis in whom a fragment of mirror glass had passed through the urethra into the bladder. The glass, 2 cm in length and 0.7 cm in diameter, was detected by cystoscopy and was removed by using a resectosope.
Alcoholics ; Cystoscopy ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Foreign Bodies ; Glass ; Humans ; Male ; Necrosis ; Sepsis ; Urethra ; Urinary Bladder

No abstract available.
Pseudohypoparathyroidism*

PURPOSE: We investigated the efficacy of ketoconazole and estramustine before chemotherapy for treating patients with progressive castration-resistant prostate cancer (CRPC) after anti-androgen withdrawal syndrome. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Eighty-four patients who were diagnosed with CRPC and were treated between 2005 and 2009 were included. Thirty-nine patients were treated with 600 mg of ketoconazole and 10 mg of prednisolone per day (group I), and 45 patients were treated with 560 mg of estramustine per day (group II). The prostate-specific antigen (PSA) response, progression-free survival, and side effects were compared. RESULTS: The median age of the patients, PSA level, and follow-up period were 72 years, 48.5 ng/ml, and 4 months (range, 1 to 29 months), respectively. The overall PSA response rate was 35.7%, and the PSA response rates were 33.3% for group I and 37.8% for group II (p=0.672). The median progression-free survival times were 8 months (95% confidence interval [CI] 5.9-10.1) overall, 5 months (95% CI 1.6-8.3) in group I, and 8 months (95% CI 5.9-10.0) in group II (p=0.282). The most common complications in groups I and II were nausea and vomiting (51.3%) and anemia (77.8%), respectively. Nausea and vomiting and hepatotoxicity were observed more often in group I, and gynecomastia, neutropenia, and anemia were observed more often in group II. The toxicities of each adverse effect were < or =grade 2. CONCLUSIONS: With a resultant PSA decline and mild adverse effects, both ketoconazole and estramustine are worth consideration as treatment options for progressive CRPC patients after primary hormonal therapy.
Anemia ; Disease-Free Survival ; Estramustine ; Follow-Up Studies ; Gynecomastia ; Humans ; Ketoconazole ; Male ; Nausea ; Neutropenia ; Prednisolone ; Prostate ; Prostate-Specific Antigen ; Prostatic Neoplasms ; Vomiting

Background: Several studies have reported associations between obesity and autonomic dysfunction. However, little research has investigated the effect of bariatric surgery on heart rate recovery (HRR) in the treadmill test and heart rate variability (HRV) in 24-hour Holter monitoring. We investigated the effects of bariatric surgery on HRR and HRV, which are parameters related to autonomic dysfunction. Methods: We retrospectively investigated patients who underwent bariatric surgery in 2019. The treadmill test, 24-hour Holter monitoring, and echocardiography were performed before and 6 months after surgery. We compared the changes in HRR in the treadmill test and HRV parameters such as the time domain and spectral domain in 24-hour Holter monitoring before and after surgery. Results: Of the 40 patients who underwent bariatric surgery, 25 patients had the treadmill test or 24-hour Holter monitoring both before and after surgery. Body weight and body mass index significantly decreased after surgery (112.86±24.37 kg vs. 89.10±20.26 kg, p<0.001; 39.22±5.69 kg/m2 vs. 31.00±5.09 kg/m2, p<0.001, respectively). HRR significantly increased (n=23; 43.00±20.97 vs. 64.29±18.49, p=0.001). The time domain of HRV parameters increased (n=21; standard deviation of the N-N interval 123.57±28.05 vs. 152.57±39.49, p=0.002 and mean N-N interval 791.57±88.84 vs. 869.05±126.31, p=0.002). Conclusions Our data showed that HRR after exercise and HRV during 24-hour Holter monitoring improved after weight reduction with bariatric surgery through improved cardiac autonomic function.