BACKGROUND: This study was performed to evaluate the results of intervention activities on the management of steam sterilizers and sterile items in out-patient clinics and clinical laboratories. METHODS: A checklist was developed and used to monitor and evaluate the adequacy of sterilizers and sterilized items at out-patient clinics and clinical laboratories in a tertiary-care hospital. The checklist consisted of 7 items: condition of the material used for packaging sterile items, maintenance of shelf-life records, sterilizer cleanliness, maintenance of expiry date details of sterilized items, sterilization conditions, use of chemical indicators, and the results of biological indicators. Monitoring and additional intervention activities were carried out once every week for 53 weeks from August 2007 to July 2008. The study period was divided into 2 terms, early and late intervention; the duration of each term was 6 months, and we compared the ratio of adequacy of management of sterilizer and sterilized items between the 2 terms. RESULTS: There were a total of 795 observations from 15 departments in 1 year. Sterility of the materials used for packaging increased from 87.4% in the first 6-month term to 97.9% in the second 6-month term. Records for shelf-life increased from 89.6% to 98.5% in the same period, while the figures for maintaining expiry date details of sterilized items and for steam sterilizer cleanliness increased from 92.6% to 99.2%, and from 91.9% to 98.5 (P<0.05), respectively. CONCLUSION: Our intensive checklist-based intervention was effective in improving the management of steam sterilizers and sterile items in out-patient clinics and clinical laboratories.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Checklist ; Humans ; Infertility ; Organothiophosphorus Compounds ; Outpatients ; Product Packaging ; Steam ; Sterilization

A cholecystectomy is one of the most frequent operations in the field of surgery. Recently, a laparoscopic cholecystectomy (LC) has become a commonly performed procedure for treatment of gallbadder disease, mainly gallstone disease. It has the advantages of less postoperative pain, fewer complications, and more rapid recovery. There is no doubt that LC will be the first choice for the treatment of gallbladder disease. We performed this study to research problem and to improve the successbility of this operation. We analyzed 300 patients who underwent a laparoscopic cholecystectomy from January 1, 1993 to December 31, 1996, at the Department of Surgery, College of Medicine, Pusan National University. The main results are as follows:1) The age range of the patients was from 17 to 72 years. There were 104 males and 196 females. 2) The most common previous operation was an appendectomy; the second most common was pelvic surgery. 3) The common chief complaints were right upper guadrant pain and indigestion. 4) Radiologic finding showed, gallstones in 212 cases and polyps in 30 cases. 5) The removed stones varied in size and number. 6) Postopertive complications were puncture site infection, bile leakage, pulmonary complications, etc. 7) The mean postopertive hospital stay was 4.2 days. 8) Intraoperative conversion to an open cholecystectomy was due to severe inflammation, adhesion, bleeding, etc. In conclusion, resolution of technical difficulties, meticulous training and experience, proper patient selection, and more developed tools are required.
Appendectomy ; Bile ; Busan ; Cholecystectomy ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic* ; Dyspepsia ; Female ; Gallbladder Diseases ; Gallstones ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Length of Stay ; Male ; Pain, Postoperative ; Patient Selection ; Polyps ; Punctures

OBJECTIVE: To assess the effect of fentanyl and midazolam on in vitro fertilization rate and early embryo development in a mouse IVF model. METHODS: Mouse oocytes were exposed in vitro to fentanyl at a concentration of 0(control), 50, 250, 500, 1000, 5000 pg/ml, and midazolam, 0(control), 2.5, 12.5, 25, 50, 250 ng/ml for 30 minutes, washed and inseminated. Thereafter fertilization was assessed. And subsequent in vitro development to the blastocyst stage was monitored daily. RESULTS: Where fertilization occurred, subsequent embryo cleavage and development up to the blastocyst stage was affected significantly by the presence of fentanyl and midazolam solution in the medium(i.e., 14% to 31%, 10% to 35%), in comparison with control group( 60%, 62%). CONCLUSION: It can be concluded from these experiments that even a brief exposure of cumulus enclosed oocytes to a low concentration of fentanyl, midazolam is deleterious to subsequent cleavage.
Anesthetics ; Animals ; Blastocyst ; Embryonic Development ; Embryonic Structures* ; Female ; Fentanyl* ; Fertilization ; Fertilization in Vitro* ; Mice* ; Midazolam* ; Oocytes ; Pregnancy

No abstract available.
Pregnancy, Heterotopic*

This study aimed to establish infection control strategies for preventing the spread of scabies within a single institution by analyzing the epidemiological characteristics of patients diagnosed with scabies. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study. The electronic medical records of 430 patients diagnosed with scabies at the dermatology outpatient department of Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital from January 2020 to December 2022 were used to collect data on their characteristics. The subjects were divided into three groups: patients, family of confirmed patients, and healthcare workers. General and epidemiological characteristics were analyzed. Results: The average age was 60.89 ± 22.39 years. The number of days from symptom onset to diagnosis was unknown in many cases (65.3%), although the average was 63.42 ± 64.18 days. Repeated visits after treatment were observed in 193 patients (67.5%), 38 family members of confirmed patients (55.1%), and 35 healthcare workers (46.7%), showing a statistically significant difference (p = .002). The most common place of residence before the visit was home (56.2%), and the most common suspected origin of contagion was the home (38.3%), and the most common category of the suspected contagious person was family (49.6%). Conclusion: Cases of scabies were disproportionately common in women and older adults. The interval from symptom onset to diagnosis was long, and about half of the cases involved itching but no skin lesions. More than one-thirds of cases did not revisit for a follow-up after 2 weeks. In the overall results, unlike previous studies, factors related to home and family were frequently observed as epidemiological characteristics.

This study aimed to establish infection control strategies for preventing the spread of scabies within a single institution by analyzing the epidemiological characteristics of patients diagnosed with scabies. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study. The electronic medical records of 430 patients diagnosed with scabies at the dermatology outpatient department of Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital from January 2020 to December 2022 were used to collect data on their characteristics. The subjects were divided into three groups: patients, family of confirmed patients, and healthcare workers. General and epidemiological characteristics were analyzed. Results: The average age was 60.89 ± 22.39 years. The number of days from symptom onset to diagnosis was unknown in many cases (65.3%), although the average was 63.42 ± 64.18 days. Repeated visits after treatment were observed in 193 patients (67.5%), 38 family members of confirmed patients (55.1%), and 35 healthcare workers (46.7%), showing a statistically significant difference (p = .002). The most common place of residence before the visit was home (56.2%), and the most common suspected origin of contagion was the home (38.3%), and the most common category of the suspected contagious person was family (49.6%). Conclusion: Cases of scabies were disproportionately common in women and older adults. The interval from symptom onset to diagnosis was long, and about half of the cases involved itching but no skin lesions. More than one-thirds of cases did not revisit for a follow-up after 2 weeks. In the overall results, unlike previous studies, factors related to home and family were frequently observed as epidemiological characteristics.

This study aimed to establish infection control strategies for preventing the spread of scabies within a single institution by analyzing the epidemiological characteristics of patients diagnosed with scabies. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study. The electronic medical records of 430 patients diagnosed with scabies at the dermatology outpatient department of Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital from January 2020 to December 2022 were used to collect data on their characteristics. The subjects were divided into three groups: patients, family of confirmed patients, and healthcare workers. General and epidemiological characteristics were analyzed. Results: The average age was 60.89 ± 22.39 years. The number of days from symptom onset to diagnosis was unknown in many cases (65.3%), although the average was 63.42 ± 64.18 days. Repeated visits after treatment were observed in 193 patients (67.5%), 38 family members of confirmed patients (55.1%), and 35 healthcare workers (46.7%), showing a statistically significant difference (p = .002). The most common place of residence before the visit was home (56.2%), and the most common suspected origin of contagion was the home (38.3%), and the most common category of the suspected contagious person was family (49.6%). Conclusion: Cases of scabies were disproportionately common in women and older adults. The interval from symptom onset to diagnosis was long, and about half of the cases involved itching but no skin lesions. More than one-thirds of cases did not revisit for a follow-up after 2 weeks. In the overall results, unlike previous studies, factors related to home and family were frequently observed as epidemiological characteristics.

This study aimed to establish infection control strategies for preventing the spread of scabies within a single institution by analyzing the epidemiological characteristics of patients diagnosed with scabies. Methods: This was a retrospective descriptive study. The electronic medical records of 430 patients diagnosed with scabies at the dermatology outpatient department of Uijeongbu St. Mary’s Hospital from January 2020 to December 2022 were used to collect data on their characteristics. The subjects were divided into three groups: patients, family of confirmed patients, and healthcare workers. General and epidemiological characteristics were analyzed. Results: The average age was 60.89 ± 22.39 years. The number of days from symptom onset to diagnosis was unknown in many cases (65.3%), although the average was 63.42 ± 64.18 days. Repeated visits after treatment were observed in 193 patients (67.5%), 38 family members of confirmed patients (55.1%), and 35 healthcare workers (46.7%), showing a statistically significant difference (p = .002). The most common place of residence before the visit was home (56.2%), and the most common suspected origin of contagion was the home (38.3%), and the most common category of the suspected contagious person was family (49.6%). Conclusion: Cases of scabies were disproportionately common in women and older adults. The interval from symptom onset to diagnosis was long, and about half of the cases involved itching but no skin lesions. More than one-thirds of cases did not revisit for a follow-up after 2 weeks. In the overall results, unlike previous studies, factors related to home and family were frequently observed as epidemiological characteristics.

PURPOSE: This study was conducted to adapt the standardized evidence-based nursing protocol using the IPC (intermittent pneumatic compression) intervention to prevent venous thromboembolism in surgical patients. Further, an investigation was done to measure knowledge on prevention of venous thromboembolism, surrogate incidence of venous thromboembolism and to assess IPC compliance in the study patients compared with those in surgical patients who underwent IPC intervention due to previous clinical experience. METHODS: An analysis was done of the nine modules suggested by National Evidence-based Healthcare Collaborating Agency (NECA) in the adaptation manual of the clinical practice guideline for protocol adaptation. A nonequivalent control group post test design as a quasi-experiment was used to verify the effect of the IPC protocol. RESULTS: There was a significant difference in knowledge of prevention of venous thromboembolism, IPC application time after intervention and the number of IPC applications between the experimental group (n=50) using the IPC nursing protocol and the control group (n=49). However, the symptoms of deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary thromboembolism were not observed in either the experimental group or the control group after the intervention. CONCLUSION: Results confirm that the standardized IPC nursing protocol provides effective intervention to prevent venous thromboembolism in surgical patients.
Compliance ; Evidence-Based Nursing ; Evidence-Based Practice ; Humans ; Incidence ; Intermittent Pneumatic Compression Devices ; Nursing Assessment* ; Nursing* ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Venous Thromboembolism* ; Venous Thrombosis

To determine the extent of environmental contamination and the effect of disinfection around patients with carbapenemresistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE) using adenosine triphosphate (ATP) measurements and microbial culture tests. Methods: The subjects of this study were 10 patients hospitalized in a single room due to CRE from April 13 to 21, 2021. One hundred and sixty samples were collected using cotton swabs from the patients’ environment including the surface and drain of sinks and toilet seats before and after disinfection of the room after discharge. Twenty-one samples were collected from the nurses’ personal digital assistants (PDAs), keyboards, and computer mice before disinfection. The relative light units (RLUs) and CRE colony-forming units (CFU) of 181 samples were measured using ATP test equipment and chrome agar plates, respectively. Results: The highest RLUs were measured at the sink drains before and after disinfection. Four CRE samples from the sink drains (2), sink surface (1), and toilet bowl (1) before disinfection were cultured. Based on the failure criteria ( ≥ 250 RLU/cm2 and ≥ 1 CFU/100 cm2 ), 90 % and 50 % of the samples from the drain exceeded the failure criteria before and after disinfection, respectively. In the culture tests, CRE was not detected after disinfection. Conclusion: According to the RLU and CFU measurements of drain samples, disinfection was not effective. Thus, improvements in the disinfection methods of drains, as well as more efficient and systematic environmental decontamination and disinfection evaluation tools, are needed to accurately evaluate the effectiveness of disinfection in various places.