This study determined the feasibility of the cuff technique for small-caliber vascular grafts in a rat model. A graft was implanted with the cuff technique or suture technique in a 1-cm segment of the abdominal aorta in 12 rats. The mean aortic clamp time was 29 minutes with the cuff technique and 44 minutes with the suture technique; the cuff technique was significantly shorter. Abdominal angiography at 1 week after implantation showed no significant stenosis in 9 rats, focal stenosis of the mid-portion of the graft in 1 rat with each technique, and total occlusion of the graft in 1 rat with the suture technique. We have successfully used the cuff technique for anastomosis for small-caliber vascular grafts in an animal model.
Angiography ; Animals ; Aorta, Abdominal ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Models, Animal ; Rats* ; Suture Techniques ; Transplants*

IIn a randomized double-blind study, postoperative pain was assessed in 60 patients undergoing gynecologic surgery with three types of anesthesia; inhalation anesthesia only (enflurane-N2O-O2-vecuronium)(G); inhalation anesthesia with local infiltration (infiltration of the abdominal wall with 40 ml 0.25% bupivacaine along the line of the proposed incision)(GI); and inhalation anesthesia with epidural analgesia (morphine 2 mg mixed with 10 ml 0.125% bupivacaine)(GE). The severity of constant incisional pain, movement-associated incisional pain, and pain upon pressure applied to the surgical wound using 5 pounds of weight was assessed with a visual analogue scale at 2, 6, 12, 24, and 48 hours after surgery. The duration of analgesia (time from the end of the surgery to the first request for analgesic) was 7.9+/-3.1 hours in group G, 22.8+/-4.8 hours in group GI, and 33.1+/-3.9 hours in group GE, with statistically significant differences between group G and other two groups. Forced vital capacity (FVC), peak expiratory flow, and forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) were measured with the patients in a semisitting position. In all groups, there were no differences in above parameters, These results indicate that postoperative pain after lower aMominal surgery would be managed satisfactorily with infiltration of local anesthetic as well as epidural analgesia.
Abdominal Wall ; Analgesia ; Analgesia, Epidural ; Anesthesia ; Anesthesia, Inhalation ; Bupivacaine* ; Double-Blind Method ; Female ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Gynecologic Surgical Procedures ; Humans ; Morphine* ; Pain, Postoperative ; Vital Capacity ; Wounds and Injuries

In Korea, every worker should undergo a preemployment medical examination according to Law for Occupational Safety and Health. But evaluation of it has not been previously carried out. Thus a telephone survey of 213 establishments of Inchon area for evaluation of preemployment medical examination in Korea was conducted. One hundred and fourteen companies(46.5% of all the subjects) were examined medically on preemployment, 47 establishments(41.2% of this study subjects) reevaluated workers by each establishment's medical criteria, and only less than half of diseased workers(DM 38.6% ; hypertension 42.1%, HBV carrier 28.0 % ; active pulmonary tuberculosis 7.9 %; back pain 12.3 %, and noise induced hearing loss 18.4 %) were employed. Employee's fees for preemployment medical examination were covered by 53.5 % of all the subjects. From our survey, it is clear that preemployment medical examination plays discriminating role on the employment of workers based on health status. We thus proposed to change over from preemployment medical examination to preplacement examination based on the evaluation of essential job functions and reasonable accommodation.
Back Pain ; Employment ; Fees and Charges ; Hearing Loss ; Hypertension ; Incheon ; Jurisprudence ; Korea* ; Noise ; Occupational Health ; Telephone ; Tuberculosis, Pulmonary

A 43-year-old male was admitted to our hospital complaining of dyspnea and wheezing sound at respiration. He had received esophageal exclusion and esophagogastrostomy due to spontanous esophageal rupture 1-year ago. Chest computed tomography revealed esophageal mucocele like that of mediastinal tumor. Trachea is compressed by esophageal mucocele. The operation was performed by resection of thoracic esophagus through right open thoracotomy. Herein we report a case of a tracheal compression by esophageal mucocele after surgical exclusion of the esophagus.
Adult ; Dyspnea ; Esophagus* ; Humans ; Male ; Mucocele* ; Respiration ; Respiratory Sounds ; Rupture ; Thoracotomy ; Thorax ; Trachea

A 34-year-old male was admitted to our hospital complaining of chest pain. Chest computerized tomography showed pleural effusion and mass in left lower area. After open thoracotomy and mass removal originating from the parietal pleura were done. The mass was pathologically diagnosed as poorly differentiated synovial sarcoma. Synovial sarcoma of the pleura is rare. Herein we report a case of synovial sarcoma of the parietal pleura.
Male ; Humans

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The effect of the hypertonic nasal douching solutions on mucociliary clearance was studied to ascertain the effect of hypertonic seawater. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Twenty-eight normal subjects were included in a randomized double -blind crossover trial. Hypertonic seawater (3%, Sinomarin(R)) was used as a hypertonic nasal douching solution. In order to determine the effect of hypertonic seawater on nasal mucosa, the mucociliary clearance was measured by the saccharin clearance time (SCT). RESULTS: The resultant SCT after administration of hypertonic seawater was significantly reduced compared with normal saline (0.9%)(p<0.05). CONCLUSION: This results showed that the hypertonic seawater improved mucociliary clearance time in the nasal cavity. The mechanism of this effect is probably brought about by changes in mucus viscoelastic properties.
Mucociliary Clearance* ; Mucus ; Nasal Cavity ; Nasal Mucosa ; Saccharin ; Seawater* ; Therapeutic Irrigation

OBJECTIVE: Single-incision thoracoscopic surgery (SITS) is being applied to various thoracic diseases because it produces a smaller surgical scar, and is associated with less pain and loss of sensation compared to the traditional 3-port video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery (VATS). In our previous study, we showed that SITS can be used as a first-line surgical method to treat primary spontaneous pneumothorax. Therefore in this study, we looked into whether SITS can be safely and conveniently applied to other various thoracic diseases. METHODS: The subjects for this study those patients who underwent SITS at this hospital for thoracic diseases, who were admitted to this hospital between December 2013 and February 2015. RESULTS: In this study, SITS was attempted in 50 patients with various thoracic diseases. In 46 cases, SITS was successfully performed. However, in the remaining 4 cases were converted to 2-port or 3-port VATS (8%, 4/50). The reasons for conversion to VATS was due to difficulty in approaching the lesion (n=3) and severe pleural adhesion (n=1). CONCLUSION: We found that SITS is a relatively easy and safe procedure that can be applied to various thoracic diseases. However, the operation may be difficult to perform depending on the location of the lesions or the extent of pleural adhesions. Therefore we recommend SITS in conditions where the lesion is mainly in the upper lobe, such as spontaneous pneumothorax, and in patients with minimal level of pleural adhesions.
4-Acetamido-4'-isothiocyanatostilbene-2,2'-disulfonic Acid ; Cicatrix ; Humans ; Pneumothorax ; Sensation ; Thoracic Diseases* ; Thoracic Surgery, Video-Assisted ; Thoracoscopy*

BACKGROUND: Recently 980-nm diode laser endovenous treatment was introduced and used as a method of treatment for varicose vein in lower extremities. The advantages of endovenous laser treatment are good cosmetic effects without incision and avoidance of complications associated with surgery. Therefore, we performed an endovenous laser treatment using a 980-nm diode laser and observed the effects and the efficiency of treatment. MATERIAL AND METHOD: From October, 2003 to March, 2004, 56 patients (84 limbs) underwent endovenous laser treatment with a 980-nm diode laser. The effects of treatment, complications and recurrences were reviewed. RESULT: The mean age of patients was 47.2 years old and the number of men and women were 21 and 35. In a total of 84 limbs, postoperative complications were transient ecchymosis(84 cases), local paresthesia (24 cases), local skin discolorization (6 cases), minimal burn (3 cases), and post operative phlebitis (1 cases). Adjuvant sclerotherapy was performed in 27 limbs and it was performed in varicose veins missed at operation and varicose veins remaining after endovenous laser treatment. In a total of 56 patients, 2 patients (3.57%) had recurrences after endovenous laser treatment and were treated with phlebectomy. CONCLUSION: Our findings demonstrated that 980-nm endovenous laser treatment had good cosmetic results with acceptable complications. This study was based on short-term results and long term follow-up is necessary to evaluate the accurate effects of treatment and recurrence. We think that multimodality treatment with endovenous laser treatment including phlebectomy or transilluminated powered phlebectomy can help decreasing of recurrence especially in patients with tortuous varicose cluster.
Burns ; Extremities ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Lasers, Semiconductor* ; Lower Extremity* ; Male ; Paresthesia ; Phlebitis ; Postoperative Complications ; Recurrence ; Sclerotherapy ; Skin ; Varicose Veins*

Central venous stenosis or occlusion is a serious complication in end-stage renal disease patients undergoing maintenance hemodialysis. It is mostly secondary to trauma caused by temporary or permanent hemodialysis catheter placement. Venous hypertension may cause pain, edema of the ipsilateral arm and increased venous pressure prevents acceptable flow rates during dialysis. Venous bypass to the internal jugular vein, the external jugular vein, or axillary vein to saphenous vein bypass have been described as alternative options of surgical management. Our patients underwent internal jugular vein bypass. We think it is an effective and low risk surgical option.
Arm ; Axillary Vein ; Catheters ; Constriction, Pathologic ; Dialysis ; Edema ; Humans ; Hypertension ; Jugular Veins ; Kidney Failure, Chronic ; Renal Dialysis* ; Saphenous Vein ; Veins* ; Venous Pressure

BACKGROUND: Several reports have suggested that preoperative nociceptive block with opioids and nonsteroidal antiinflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may reduce postoperative pain. This study evaluated the effects of preemptive analgesia, the analgesic efficacy and safety of intravenous opioids and NSAIDs during the first 48 hours after lower abdominal surgery. METHODS: The 40 patients were randomized to either preemptive group or postincisional group. All subjects received IV bolus of 2 mg of morphine followed by continuous IV mixture (morphine 30 mg + ketorolac 90 mg + droperidol 2 mg in 90 ml of normal saline) via Baxter 2-Day Infusor(R). Evaluations included supplementary analgesics, analgesic pain assessment (visual analogue scale, VAS), time of first analgesic request, patient comfort (comfort scale), and side effects. RESULTS: There were no differences in number of patient requiring supplemental analgesic (3/20 vs 5/20), the time of first analgesic request (42.2 hours vs 37.5 hours), pain scores measured at each time, and patient comfort between two groups. There were minor complications such as nausea and somnolence in both groups, but no patients needed any treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Preemptive or postincisional morphine-ketorolac-droperidol infusion was equally effective for postoperative analgesia after lower abdominal surgery with minor complications. Further evaluation may be needed to determine whether preemptive analgesia has any advantages over postincisional analgesia.
Analgesia* ; Analgesics ; Analgesics, Opioid ; Anti-Inflammatory Agents, Non-Steroidal ; Droperidol* ; Humans ; Ketorolac* ; Morphine* ; Nausea ; Pain Measurement ; Pain, Postoperative