PURPOSE: Compression of the ulnar nerve in the ulnar tunnel is a relatively uncommon condition. Many authors have described several etiologies of ulnar nerve compression. We experienced two cases of ulnar nerve compression in the ulnar tunnel due to an anomalous pulsatile S-shaped ulnar artery. METHODS: Case 1: A 51-year-old man was referred with numbness and paroxysmal tingling sensation along the volar side of the ring and little fingers of his right hand for 6 months. When exploration, the ulnar artery was pulsatile S-shaped and was impinging on the ulnar nerve. To decompress the ulnar nerve, the tortuous ulnar artery was mobilized and translocated radially onto the adjacent fibrous tissue. Case 2: A 41-year-old man was referred with tingling sensation on the 4th, 5th finger of the right hand for 4 months. Sensory nerve conduction velocities of the ulnar nerve was delayed. Preoperative 3D angio CT scan showed an anomalous S-shaped ulnar artery. Same operation was done. RESULTS: The postoperative course was uneventful. After decompression, paroxysmal tingling sensation decreased to less than 1 minute per episode, occurring 1 or 2 times a day. After 4 months, they had no more episodes of numbness and tingling sensation. Examination demonstrated good sensation to pinprick and touch on the ulnar aspect of the hand. CONCLUSION: We report two cases of ulnar nerve compressive neuropathy that was caused by an anomalous pulsatile S-shaped ulnar artery in the ulnar tunnel. Although this is an unusual cause of ulnar nerve compression, the symptoms will not spontaneously resolve. The prompt relief of compressive neuropathic symptoms following the translocation of the impinging ulnar artery from the affected ulnar nerve onto adjacent tissue proved that the ulnar nerve compression is due to the anomalous vessel.
Adult ; Decompression ; Fingers ; Hand ; Humans ; Hypesthesia ; Middle Aged ; Neural Conduction ; Sensation ; Ulnar Artery ; Ulnar Nerve ; Ulnar Nerve Compression Syndromes

High-pressure (HP) injection injury to the upper extremity often causes a very serious clinical problem, leading to poor outcomes, including amputation, so that a true surgical emergency is required. The outcomes can be improved with emergent wide surgical debridement. However the diagnosis of these injuries is often delayed due to underestimated evaluation at first appearance and lack of common knowledge of the seriousness of this injury. The type and pressure of the infecting material is an important factor in prognosis and organic solvents infected pressure injury can cause poor outcome and increased amputation rate. In this case, we report on reconstruction of HP oilbased paint injection injuries of the finger using T-shaped pedicles and multiple venous anastomoses. In this concept, arterial flow can be maintained by the reverse flow of distal anastomosis when there is difficulty with the proximal anastomosis. And venous flow can be preserved by deep and superficial vein anastomosis. This concept has various advantages including preserving patency of the pedicle in chronic vasculopathy or trauma cases and maintaining the arterial flow by the reverse flow of distal anastomosis and can improve the free flap survival by a two vascular anastomosis system.
Amputation ; Debridement ; Diagnosis ; Emergencies ; Fingers* ; Free Tissue Flaps* ; Paint* ; Prognosis ; Solvents ; Upper Extremity ; Veins

PURPOSE: Various types of flaps, with their own advantages and disadvantages, have been described for reconstruction of soft tissue defect with exposure of tendons, bones, or joints in the hand or foot. Local flaps with random vascularity have a limitation by their length. Free flaps are time-consuming procedure that may require the sacrifice of some major vessels. The ideal flap for covering soft tissue defects of the hand or foot must provide subcutaneous tissue that tendons can glide through which, supply enough subcutaneous tissue for cover of vital neural, bony, vascular and joint structures, and it has to be aesthetically pleasing. The adipofascial flap fulfills these criteria. It allows immediate or early closure of difficult wound of hand and foot in an easy way, and is especially indicated for small to medium-sized defects. METHODS: From October 2005 to December 2006, seven cases underwent this procedure to reconstruct soft tissue defect on hand or foot. RESULTS: All flaps survived completely, and no complications were observed. CONCLUSION: The adipofascial flap is a convenient flap for coverage of soft tissue with exposure of vital structure in the hand or foot, and provide several advantages, as following; easy and safe, short operating time, one stage procedure, thinness and good pliability of the flap, preservation of the major vascular pedicles, skin preservation at the donor site, thus preserve the shape of the limb and minimize donor site scar.
Cicatrix ; Extremities ; Foot* ; Free Tissue Flaps ; Hand* ; Humans ; Joints ; Pliability ; Skin ; Subcutaneous Tissue ; Tendons ; Thinness ; Tissue Donors ; Wounds and Injuries

Background: Pharmacists communicate with a variety of healthcare experts to prevent medication errors. Situation-BackgroundAssessment-Recommendation (SBAR) is a tool used for concise and accurate communication. In 2018, we developed the pharmacy-SBAR (P-SBAR) to deliver pharmacists intervention more quickly and effectively through quality improvement activities. Objectives: This study evaluates the efficacy of P-SBAR on pharmacists’ intervention activities before and after the implementation of P-SBAR applications. We assessed the impact of P-SBAR on reducing the burden of intervention work, promoting pharmacists’ participation, and enhancing the acceptance rate. Methods: This is a retrospective study of the two groups before and after P-SBAR implementation. All pharmacists’ intervention records during two periods (2016-2017 and 2019-2020) were extracted from the data warehouse system at Kyunghee University Hospital at Gangdong, Seoul. The outcome was the number of inpatients and pharmacists who participated in the prescription monitoring activity, the number of interventions, and the physicians’ acceptance rate. Results: Although the total number of inpatients decreased (364,753 vs. 348,229), the number of pharmacists who participated in intervention activity increased (monthly mean: 15.8 vs. 18.0, p=0.001). The total number of interventions (2,767 vs. 4,389), the frequency of full acceptance (2,018 vs. 3,710), and the monthly acceptance rate increased significantly (73.8% vs. 83.8%, p<0.001). Conclusion P-SBAR improved accessibility and convenience by digitalizing the intervention activities performed in an offline environment. Improvement in work burden and acceptance rate using P-SBAR is expected to contribute toward reducing medication errors.

BACKGROUND: Bronchial reactivity is known to be a component of airway hyperresponsiveness, a cardinal feature of asthma, with bronchial sensitivity, and is increments in response to induced doses of bronchoconstric tors as manifested by the steepest slope of the dose-response curve. However, there is some controversy regarding methods of measuring bronchial reactivity and clinical impact of such measurements. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the clinical significance and assess the clinical use by analyzing the relationship of the bronchial sensitivity, the clinical severity and the changes in pulmonary function with bronchial reactivity. METHOD: A total of 116 subjects underwent a methacholine bronchial provocation test. They were divided into 3 groups : mild intermittent, mild persistent, moderate and cough asthma. Severe patients were excluded. Methacholine PC20 was determined from the log dose-response curve and PC40 was determined by one more dose inhalation after PC20. The steepest slope of log dose-response curve, connecting PC20 with PC40, was used to calculate the bronchial reactivity. Body plethysmography and a single breath for the DLCO were done in 43 subjects before and after methacholine test. RESULTS: The average bronchial reactivity was 38.0 in the mild intermittent group, 49.8 in the mild persistent group, 61.0 in the moderate group, and 41.1 in the cough asthma group. There was a weak negative correlation between PC20 and bronchial reactivity. A heightened bronchial reactivity tends to produce an increased clinical severity in patients with a similar bronchial sensitivity and basal spirometric pulmonary function. There were significant correlations between the bronchial reactivity and the initial pulmonary function before the methacholine test in the order of sGaw, Raw, FEV1/FVC, MMFR. There were no correlations between the bronchial sensitivity and the % change in the pulmonary function parameters after the methacholine test. However, there were significant correlations between the bronchial reactivity and the PEF, FEV1, DLCO. CONCLUSION: There was weak significant negative correlation between the bronchial reactivity and the bronchial sensitivity, and the bronchial reactivity closely reflected the severity of the asthma. Accordingly, measuring both the bronchial sensitivity and the bronchial reactivity can be of assistance in assessing of the ongoing disease severity and in monitoring the effect of therapy.
Asthma ; Bronchial Provocation Tests ; Cough ; Humans ; Inhalation ; Maximal Midexpiratory Flow Rate ; Methacholine Chloride* ; Plethysmography

BACKGROUND: For the early diagnosis of tsutsugamushi disease, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) using skin specimen might be a precise and useful diagnostic tool. The purpose of this study is to detect and identify the serotype of the Orientia tsutsugamushi from the skin lesions of the patients with tsutsugamushi disease by nested PCR. METHODS: Nested PCR was used to diagnose tsutsugamushi disease and identify the serotype of the O. tsutsugamushi; Karp, Kato, Gilliam or Boryong/Kuroki. The primer sets were derived from serotype-specific DNA sequences encoding the 56kDa antigen of O. tsutsugamushi. The PCR products were analyzed by using direct cyclic sequencing. RESULTS: The serotype-specific DNA bands with 1% agarose gel electrophoresis of amplified DNAs by nested PCR were observed in all 11 skin biopsy specimens from 8 patients with tsutsugamushi disease. Among 8 patients, 7 were proved to be infected with Boryong/Kuroki strains and one with Karp. One Karp strain showed one base mutation with amino acid sequence variation, but all the Boryong/ Kuroki strains showed no mutation. CONCLUSION: We suggest that serotype-specific nested PCR is a simple, rapid and precise diagnostic method, and useful for early diagnosis of tsutsugamushi disease. Furthermore, we might detect the sequence variations of serotype-specific DNA sequences encoding 56-kDa antigen among strains.
Amino Acid Sequence ; Base Sequence ; Biopsy ; DNA ; Early Diagnosis ; Electrophoresis, Agar Gel ; Humans ; Orientia tsutsugamushi* ; Polymerase Chain Reaction* ; Scrub Typhus ; Skin

Aerococcus viridans is a rare pathogen in humans, with only six cases of A. viridans urinary tract infections reported worldwide. Nosocomial urinary tract infections with bacteremia caused by A. viridians are even rarer, with no prior reports of urosepsis caused by A. viridans occurring in the Republic of Korea. Here we report a case of urosepsis caused by A. viridans in a 79 year-old female nursing home resident. The patient was admitted to the hospital presenting a fever of 39degrees C, chills, and oliguria for two days prior to admission. Urine culture yielded a robust growth of 105 CFU/mL of A. viridians, with blood culture positive for the same organism. Following diagnosis, the patient was treated with ciprofloxacin intravenously for 2 weeks, resulting in clearance of the infection and a full recovery from urosepsis. Although A. viridans is rarely associated with human infections, this case shows that, under the right conditions, it can be responsible for severe infections like urosepsis.
Aerococcus* ; Bacteremia ; Chills ; Ciprofloxacin ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Nursing Homes ; Oliguria ; Republic of Korea ; Urinary Tract Infections

OBJECTIVE: Some reports have shown the gender-related clinical differences in Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but no study has yet been done in Korea. The purpose of this study was to investigate the gender-related differences of clinical features in the obsessive-compulsive patients in Korea. METHODS: Two hundred forty nine patients with OCD were included in this study; 180 subjects were male and 69 subjects were female. The two groups were analyzed in terms of demographic data including clinical variable, Y-BOCS (Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale) scores, clinical course and treatment response. RESULTS: We found the earlier age at onset of OC symptoms in males and the more frequent washing and somatization type in female. There were no gender difference in comorbidity, clinical course and the treatment response. CONCLUSION: We could observe some of the gender-related clinical differences in Korean OCD patients. The further studies would be required to evaluate the gender difference in the long-term clinical course and therapeutic response of Korean OCD patients.
Comorbidity ; Female ; Humans ; Korea ; Male ; Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder*

BACKGROUND: Use of universal leukoreduction for prevention of leukocyte associated transfusion reactions is common practice in many countries. This study was conducted in order to evaluate the performance of a newly developed leukoreduction filter for red blood cells (RBCs), the RF300 (Kolon Industries, Inc, Gumi, Korea). METHODS: Filtration time, RBC recovery, residual leukocyte count, and leukocyte removal rate were evaluated. To assess the quality of RBCs after filtration, percent hemolysis was monitored for a period of 21 days. Performance of the RF300 (N=78) was compared with that of the Bio-R O2 plus (Fresenius, Hamburg, Germany), the Pall Purecell RC (Pall Co., Washington, USA), and the Sepacell R-500N (Asahi, Tokyo, Japan). RESULTS: The shortest filtration time was observed using the RF300 (P<0.05). Using the RF300, recovery of RBC was 96.5%, which was higher than that of two filters (P<0.05). Mean residual leukocyte count was 0.26x10(6)/unit, with a leukocyte removal rate of 3 log. Using the RF300, mean percent hemolysis was 0.32% at day 21, which was comparable with that of two filters, but lower than that of one filter (P<0.05). CONCLUSION: The RF300 meets all established quality requirements for conduct of safe and effective leukoreduction of RBCs.
Blood Group Incompatibility ; Collodion ; Erythrocytes ; Filtration ; Hemolysis ; Leukocyte Count ; Leukocytes ; Tokyo ; Washington

Actinomycosis is a chronic suppurative and granulomatous disease caused by actinomyces species and caracterized by sulfur granule formation which frequently discharged via draining sinus. Actinomyces can affect cervicofacial, pulmonary, abdominal and pelvic area. Most of abdominal actinomycosis is developed after abdominal operation, trauma or inflammatory bowel disease and it must be differentiated from colon cancer, amaeboma, chronic appendicitis or intestinal tuberculosis. We report a case of abdominal actinomycosis, preoperatively impressed as colon carcinoma, which was diagnosed by histological study of the operative specimen. Adequate surgical excision and drainage procedure followed by administration of massive dose of penicilline for weeks. In this case we noted secondary abscess formation after surgery of primary disease. Herein we present our experience with reviewed literatures.
Abscess ; Actinomyces ; Actinomycosis* ; Appendicitis ; Colon ; Colonic Neoplasms ; Drainage ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases ; Penicillins ; Sulfur ; Tuberculosis