BACKGROUND: The start-up behavior of syringe and syringe pump is known to be one of the causes of inaccurate intravenous infusion. This study evaluated the method of priming the infusion system (PRIMING), and its impact on the target-controlled infusion (TCI) of two remifentanil diluents. METHODS: PRIMING was performed using an evacuation of 2.0 ml to the atmosphere prior to TCI. Forty-eight TCI, using 50 microg/ml (Remi50) or 20 microg/ml (Remi20) of diluents, were performed targeting 4.0 ng/ml of effect-site concentration (Ceff), with PRIMING or not. The gravimetrical measurements of the delivered infusates reproduced actual Ceff. The bolus amount and time to reach 95% target were compared. RESULTS: Without PRIMING, Remi50 infused less bolus (43 +/- 23 %) than Remi20 (19 +/- 9 %) (P = 0.003), and showed more delayed increase of Ceff (11.2 +/- 4.0 min) than Remi20 (7.4 +/- 0.4 min) (P = 0.028). However, PRIMING significantly decreased the deficit of the bolus (2 +/- 1%), as well as the delay of the increase of Ceff in Remi50 (1.2 +/- 0.2 min) (both P < 0.001). In addition, with PRIMING, the start-up bolus showed minimal difference to the nominal bolus (1 and 2%), and Ceff were increased to 4.0 +/- 0.1 ng/ml at the expected time of peak effect, irrespective of the diluents. CONCLUSIONS: Proper operation of the syringe pump used in the priming of the syringe may be helpful in reduction of the inaccuracy of TCI, particularly during the early phase of infusion, or the infusion of a more concentrated diluent.
Atmosphere ; Infusions, Intravenous ; Piperidines ; Syringes

PURPOSE: We retrospectively analyzed open pulmonary thromboembolectomy in patients with acute and chronic pulmonary thromboembolism. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between August 1990 and May 2005, 12 consecutive patients with acute and chronic pulmonary thromboembolism underwent open pulmonary thromboembolectomy at Yonsei Cardiovascular Center. Their mean age was 47.5 years, and 7 of the patients were female. Among 12 patients, 5 had acute onset, and 7 had chronic disease, and 9 patients were associated with deep venous thrombosis. Extent of pulmonary embolism was massive in 3 patients with hemodynamic instability, and submassive in 8 patients. Preoperative echocardiogram revealed elevated right ventricular pressure in all patients, and 7 patients were in NYHA functional class III or IV. Pulmonary thromboembolectomy was performed in all patients under total circulatory arrest. RESULTS: There were 2 hospital deaths (16.7%). Among the patients who survived, mean right ventricular pressure was decreased significantly from 64.3mmHg to 34.0mmHg with improvement of NYHA functional class. CONCLUSION: Open pulmonary thromboembolectomy is thought to be an immediate and definitive treatment for massive pulmonary embolism with optimal results. Even though operative mortality is still high, early diagnosis and immediate surgical intervention in highly selective patients may improve the clinical outcome.
Adult ; Aged ; *Embolectomy/mortality ; Female ; Humans ; Korea/epidemiology ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Prognosis ; Pulmonary Embolism/mortality/physiopathology/*surgery ; Retrospective Studies ; Vena Cava Filters

Triceps tendon avulsion from the olecranon is a rare injury. Missed or delayed diagnosis may result in a weakness of strength or a decreased range of motion of the elbow. This injury is usually caused by a fall on the outstretched hand or a direct blow to the posterior arm. In addition, the rupture of the triceps tendon is implicated by a sudden eccentric contraction of the triceps muscle. To determine whether the rupture is complete or incomplete is critical to guide the treatment method. A small avulsed fragment from the olecranon may be detected on lateral radiographs of the elbow. We report three cases of the triceps tendon avulsion with a bony flake from the olecranon, which were surgically treated, along with a brief review of the literature.
Arm ; Contracts ; Delayed Diagnosis ; Elbow ; Hand ; Muscles ; Olecranon Process ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Rupture ; Tendons

Venous air embolism (VAE) is a potentially fatal complication in patients with chronic liver disease during liver surgery, although VAE is unlikely to occur during laparotomy in a supine position. We report a case presenting unexpected cardiovascular collapse due to venous air embolism in a patient with liver cirrhosis during hepatic resection.
Embolism, Air ; Humans ; Laparotomy ; Liver ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Diseases ; Shock ; Supine Position

BACKGROUND: Laparoscopic gastrectomy requires a reverse-Trendelenburg position and prolonged pneumoperitoneum and it could cause significant changes in cerebral homeostasis and lead to cognitive dysfunction. We compared changes in regional cerebral oxygen saturation (rSO2), early postoperative cognitive function and hemodynamic variables in patients undergoing laparoscopic gastrectomy with those patients that underwent conventional open gastrectomy. METHODS: Sixty patients were enrolled in this study and the patients were distributed to receive either laparoscopic gastrectomy (laparoscopy group, n = 30) or open conventional gastrectomy (open group, n = 30). rSO2, end-tidal carbon dioxide tension, hemodynamic variables and arterial blood gas analysis were monitored during the operation. The enrolled patients underwent the mini-mental state examination 1 day before and 5 days after surgery for evaluation of early postoperative cognitive function. RESULTS: Compared to baseline value, rSO2 and end-tidal carbon dioxide tension increased significantly in the laparoscopy group after pneumoperitoneum, whereas no change was observed in the open group. No patient experienced cerebral oxygen desaturation or postoperative cognitive dysfunction. Changes in mean arterial pressure over time were significantly different between the groups (P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Both laparoscopic and open gastrectomy did not induce cerebral desaturation or early postoperative cognitive dysfunction in patients under desflurane anesthesia. However, rSO2 values during surgery favoured laparoscopic surgery, which was possibly related to increased cerebral blood flow due to increased carbon dioxide tension and the effect of a reverse Trendelenburg position.
Anesthesia ; Arterial Pressure ; Blood Gas Analysis ; Carbon Dioxide ; Gastrectomy* ; Head-Down Tilt ; Hemodynamics ; Homeostasis ; Humans ; Laparoscopy ; Oxygen* ; Pneumoperitoneum

INTRODUCTION: This study examined the cumulative resorption of implants placed in a severely atrophic mandible and analyzed the radiologic bone resorption in the marginal bone, after an autogenous bone graft including both block and particulates that had been harvested from the ramus and iliac crest. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A retrospective study was performed on patients who had bone grafts for augmentation followed by implant installation in the mandible area from 2003 to 2008. Twelve patients (6 men and 6 women) who received 34 implants in the augmented sites were evaluated. Cumulative radiologic resorption around the implants was measured immediately, 3 months, 6 months and 12 months after implant installation surgery. RESULTS: The installed implant in grafted bone showed 0.84 mm marginal bone resorption after 3 months and 50% total cumulative resorption after 1 year. The mean marginal bone resorption around the implant installed in the grafted bone was 0.44 mm after 3 months, 0.52 mm after 1 year, after which it stabilized. The implant survival rate was 97% (failed implant was 1/34). Marginal bone resorption of the installed implant in the autogenous onlay block bone grafts was 0.98 mm after 3 months, which was significantly higher than that of a particulated bone graft (0.74 mm) (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: An autogenous graft including block type and particulate type is a predictable procedure for the use of dental implants in a severely atrophic mandible. Implant placement in augmented areas show a relatively high survival and minimal bone loss, as revealed by a radiologic evaluation.
Bone Resorption ; Dental Implants ; Humans ; Inlays ; Male ; Mandible ; Retrospective Studies ; Survival Rate ; Transplants

The fingernail is damaged and deformed by various causes such as crushing, laceration, avulsion injury, infection, tumor and personal habit. The growth disturbance of nail plate may be caused by systemic diseases or trauma without a direct injury of the fingernail and is usually found in accident. We experienced abnormal growth of nail plate in four patients with previous fractures of metacarpal bone. At about 8 weeks after trauma, a swelling and tenderness on the eponychium and a growth disturbance of affected nail plates occurred. All affected fingernails were treated with the nail extraction. The authors report four cases of growth disturbance of nail plates which obtained the satisfactory results by using the nail extraction.
Humans ; Lacerations ; Nails

There is no consensus as to which acute myocardial infarction subtype poses a greater risk after coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG). We compared the early and the long term results of off-pump coronary artery bypass grafting (OPCAB) between patients with STEMI (group I, n = 83), and NSTEMI (group II, n = 237). Group I had higher EuroSCORE, prevalence of emergency surgery, preoperative intra-aortic balloon pump use, preoperative emergency percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, and preoperative thrombolytic use than group II. There were no significant differences in 30-day mortality and major adverse cardiac and cerebrovascular event (MACCE) between groups. Overall 8-yr survival was 93% and 87% in groups I and II, respectively. Freedom from MACCE after 8 yr was 92% and 93% in groups I and II, respectively. After propensity score matching analysis, there were no significant differences in preoperative parameters, postoperative in-hospital outcomes, and long-term clinical outcomes. Surgical results of OPCAB in patients with acute myocardial infarction show good results in terms of long-term survival and freedom from MACCE, with no significant differences in clinical outcomes between STEMI and NSTEMI groups.
Acute Disease ; Aged ; Angioplasty, Balloon, Coronary ; *Coronary Artery Bypass, Off-Pump ; Disease-Free Survival ; Electrocardiography ; Female ; Fibrinolytic Agents/therapeutic use ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Myocardial Infarction/drug therapy/mortality/*surgery ; Odds Ratio ; Preoperative Period ; Propensity Score

BACKGROUND: Hemodynamic derangement during off-pump coronary artery bypass surgery (OPCAB) is mainly attributed to impaired filling and diastolic dysfunction. An elevated ratio of the mitral velocity to the early-diastolic velocity of the mitral annulus (E/e' > 15) is a relatively new indicator of diastolic function, and this was reported to be associated with impaired hemodynamics during OPCAB. We investigated the efficacy of milrinone on the perioperative hemodynamics and short term outcomes of patients with an E/e' > 15 and who underwent OPCAB. METHODS: The patients were randomly allocated into either group C (control, n = 31) or group M (n = 31) and they were treated with the same amount of either normal saline or milrinone (0.5 microg/kg/min) without bolus loading after completion of internal mammary artery harvest until the end of operation. Hemodynamic measurements were recorded after the induction of anesthesia (T1), 5 min after starting each distal anastomosis of the left anterior descending artery (T2), left circumflex artery (T3) and right coronary artery (T4), and 5 min after sternum closure (T5). RESULTS: The mixed venous oxygen saturation (SvO2) was lower through T2-T4 compared to the baseline value in both groups, while the degree of the decrease was significantly less in group M than that in group C. The other hemodynamic variables, the operative data and the postoperative outcomes were similar between the two groups. CONCLUSIONS: Intraoperative infusion of milrinone did not significantly improve the perioperative hemodynamics and the subsequent short term outcomes for the patients with preexisting diastolic dysfunction as represented by an elevated E/e' value, although it reduced the degree of decrease of the SvO2 during OPCAB.
Anesthesia ; Arteries ; Coronary Artery Bypass, Off-Pump ; Coronary Vessels ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Mammary Arteries ; Milrinone ; Oxygen ; Sternum

BACKGROUND: The usages for the i-STAT point-of-care testing (POCT) analyzer are increasing in emergency departments, intensive care units and dialysis units. We evaluated the performance of the i-STAT as a POCT analyzer. METHODS: We evaluated the analytical performance of the i-STAT through the measurement of sodi-um (Na), potassium (K), hematocrit, ionized calcium (iCa), PO 2 , PCO 2 and pH. We used two disposable cartridges including EG6+ cartridge for Na, K, hematocrit, PO 2 , PCO 2 and pH and EG7+ for iCa. RESULTS: The i-STAT revealed good linearity in Na and K except in hematocrit (r2 =0.9973, 0.9988 and 0.9179, respectively). In the precision study, the within-run and total-run coefficients of variation (CV, %) were within 10%. A high correlation was found between the i-STAT POCT analyzer and the analyzers in the central laboratory except sodium. In the study of the operator's effect, the intrapersonal CV and interpersonal CV were within 10% except in the PO 2 analysis. CONCLUSIONS: With its rapid turnaround time, small sample requirement, ease of operation, the i-STAT seems appropriate for clinical use in the management of patients in the emergency department, intensive care units and dialysis units where immediate access to clinically relevant laboratory testing is required.
Calcium ; Dialysis ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Hematocrit ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Intensive Care Units ; Potassium ; Sodium