Since 1954 when the first biodegradable polymer, polyglycolic acid(PGA), was synthesized, many different biodegradable and tissue-tolerant materials have been invested and studied for internal fixation devices. The use of biodegradable materials for the internal fixation of fractures would avoid the need for later removal of the implant. However, problems of a physical and chemical nature have delayed the development of biodegradable implants applicable to fracture management. The authors reviewed 17 cases in which the absorbable pins made of poly-p-dioxanone were used for internal fixation at Seoul National University Hospital between December, 1987 and September, 1989, and report on 11 patients who had at least 6 months follow-up(average 9.1 months). The results were graded as excellent(5 cases), good(4 cases), poor(0 case), and questionable(2 cases). In the 9 cases where the absorbable pins were used for internal fixation of the intraarticular fractures or defects, satisfactory(excellent or good) results were obtained. In the 2 cases where the absorbable pins were used for intramedullary nailing, the role of the pins was questionable. There were no complications such as wound sinus formation, secondary displacement of the fragemts and delayed union or nonunion.
Absorbable Implants ; Fracture Fixation, Intramedullary ; Humans ; Internal Fixators ; Intra-Articular Fractures ; Polymers ; Seoul ; Wounds and Injuries

BACKGROUND: We evaluated laryngeal mask airway (LMA) insertion conditions, hemodynamic changes and bispectral index (BIS) responses during the induction of anesthesia with target controlled infusion (TCI) of propofol. METHODS: Ninety patients (ASA 1 or 2, 18-64 years) were allocated randomly to receive an infusion to achieve and maintain target blood concentration of a 4, 5 and 6micro gram/ml. LMA was inserted after loss of consciousness. LMA insertion conditions, hemodynamic and BIS responses were evaluated. RESULTS: Loss of consciousness and LMA insertion were more rapid in patients with propofol target blood concentration of a 6micro gram/ml than at the other concentrations. Also, full attenuation of larygeal reflexes on the first try was greater in the 6micro gram/ml group than the other groups. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that propofol administration at a target blood concentration of 6micro gram/ml allow successful insertion of LMA without major hemodynamic changes.
Anesthesia ; Hemodynamics ; Humans ; Laryngeal Masks* ; Plasma* ; Propofol* ; Reflex ; Unconsciousness

After surgical operation in patients with arteriovenous malformation (AVM), normal pressure perfusion breakthrough (NPPB) is one of the major complications. Brain perfusion SPECT with acetazolamide stress was known to be useful to evaluate the vascular reserve in several neurological and neurosurgical conditions. The authors performed acetazolamide brain perfusion SPECT in patients with AVM and compared the brain perfusion in the post-operative clinical courses. The acetazolamide brain perfusion SPECT was helpful in defining the prognosis of the patients with AVM. We describe 4 patients with AVM who had acetazolamide brain perfusion SPECT to examine the prognosis.
Acetazolamide* ; Arteriovenous Malformations* ; Brain* ; Humans ; Perfusion* ; Prognosis* ; Technetium Tc 99m Exametazime ; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*

PURPOSE: To evaluate the clinical course of optic nerve sheath meningioma (ONSM) in Korean patients. METHODS: A retrospective study of 11 eyes of 11 patients with a diagnosis of ONSM between 2002 and 2015 at Severance Hospital. RESULTS: The mean age at symptom onset was 47.6 years. Ten females and 1 male participated in the study and all tumors were unilateral. Patients typically presented with visual loss and proptosis. Three patients complained of limited extraocular movements and seven patients exhibited visual field defects. Three patients who had a greater growth rate with intracranial involvement and two patients who had decreased vision received treatments. Five patients maintained good vision and visual field during the follow-up period. However, one patient who underwent surgical treatment presented significant visual loss and deterioration of visual field defect. One out of two patients who received three-dimensional conformal radiotherapy (3D-CRT) experienced improvement in visual field, and the other showed no change in visual field defect but remained stable with decreased tumor size. One out of two patients who underwent gamma-knife surgery showed aggravated visual field defect and the other presented with visual loss. CONCLUSIONS: ONSM is typically a slow-growing tumor. Deterioration of visual loss and visual field defect can occur after treatment of ONSM. Therefore, management should be considered carefully and should be limited to cases in which progression of the disease is advanced or tumor growth is fast. 3D-CRT can be considered in patients in need of treatment.
Diagnosis ; Exophthalmos ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Meningioma* ; Optic Nerve* ; Radiotherapy, Conformal ; Retrospective Studies ; Visual Fields

BACKGROUND: Postoperative nausea and vomiting are common postoperative complaints. The purpose of this study was to assess the effect of preoperative midazolam on vomiting after appendectomy. METHODS: Sixty patients, aged 10 64 yr, undergoing emergency appendectomy were randomly allocated to receive midazolam 30, 50, 75 microgram/kg or placebo after induction of anesthesia. Anesthesia consisted of 67% nitrous oxide, 33% oxygen and propofol infusion 6 10 mg/kg/h. Postoperative vomiting was checked by the recovery room nurse at 1 h after operation and we examined the incidence of postoperative vomiting at 24 h after operation. RESULTS: Midazolam reduced the overall incidence of vomiting, especially in the midazolam 50 and 75 microgram/kg groups, completely abolishing vomiting (P< 0.05). However, in the midazolam 75 microgram/kg group, there was a delay in eye opening time (P< 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Preoperative injections of midazolam 30 or 50 microgram/kg were useful to prevent postoperative vomiting in patients undergoing appendectomy without delayed recovery.
Anesthesia ; Antiemetics* ; Appendectomy* ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Incidence ; Midazolam* ; Nitrous Oxide ; Oxygen ; Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting ; Propofol ; Recovery Room ; Vomiting

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to determine the incidence of side effects, rate of recovery, and maintenance of anesthesia when using a mixture of propofol and thiopentone as compared with propofol alone. METHODS: Fifty ASA Physical Status I or II patients aged between 12 and 60 years scheduled for minor surgical procedures were randomly allocated to group P (propofol) or group PT (propofol mix with thiopentone) in which a loading dose of propofol 2 mg/kg (group P) or propofol 1 mg/kg and thiopentone 2.5 mg/kg (group PT) was applied. At induction of anesthesia, an independent anesthesiologist graded the incidence and severity of pain. After administering the induction dosage, he also checked spontaneous movements. The duration of operation time and the duration of anesthesia were also noted. RESULTS: There was a significant decrease of the incidence of pain on injection and spontaneous movements in group PT compared with group P (P < 0.05). The propofol maintenance dose was also significantly decreased (P < 0.05). There were no significant differences in recovery indexes between the two groups except delay in time to eye opening. CONCLUSIONS: Our data indicate that a propofol-thiopentone mixture for induction, maintenance and recovery are satisfactory during anesthesia undergoing minor surgery. In addition, there were significant reductions in pain on injection, spontaneous movement, and cost-effectiveness.
Anesthesia ; Humans ; Incidence ; Propofol* ; Surgical Procedures, Minor ; Thiopental

Extracorporeal shock wave lithotripsy (ESWL) has revolutionized the management of urolithiasis since it was first introduced in 1980. ESWL is a well-established, safe and effective therapeutic alternative to surgical treatment for urolithiasis. Complications of ESWL do occur in a small number of patients, and when they do, they typically involve the kidney. We present a case of a young female patient who developed a huge hepatic subcapsular hematoma accompanied by hypovolemic shock after ESWL for a 9 mm stone in the right kidney. The hematoma measured 13x6 cm. Conservative care with no surgical intervention was chosen because there was no evidence of active bleeding on the computed tomography. After conservative therapy, the hematoma was gradually absorbed and the patient was discharged.
Female ; Hematoma ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Kidney ; Lithotripsy ; Shock ; Urolithiasis

BACKGROUND: The deleterious cardiopulmonary side effects immediately after positioning in reverse Trendelenburg and CO2 intra-abdominal insufflation during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy are well tolerated in healthy patients but can lead to serious morbidity and mortality in patients with a limited cardiopulmonary reserve. Using a continuous and non-invasive cardiac output monitor based on partial CO2 rebreathing method, we investigated the immediate cardiopulmonary changes caused by positioning in reverse Trendelenburg and CO2 intra-abdominal insufflation during a laparoscopic cholecystectomy, and assessed the applicability of the partial CO2 rebreathing method for the measurement of cardiac output in a laparoscopic cholecystectomy. METHODS: The investigation was carried out on 11 patients undergoing a laparoscopic cholesystectomy. The control values of cardiac index (CI), cardiac output (CO), mean arterial pressure (MAP), heart rate (HR), central venous pressure (CVP), systemic vascular resistance (SVR), dynamic compliance (Cdyn), airway resistance (Raw), peak inspiratory pressure (PIP) and end tidal CO2 partial pressure (PETCO2) were measured in the supine position after induction with target-controlled infusion of propofol (5 microgram/ ml). Five minutes after positioning in reverse Trendelenburg and CO2 insufflation, the same cardiopulmonay variables were measured and compared with the control values. RESULTS: CI, CO and CVP were reduced 33.3%, 31.9% and 29.0%, respectively (P < 0.05). MAP and SVR were increased 39.8% and 154.1%, respectively (P < 0.05). Cdyn was reduced 38.0% (P < 0.05). Raw and PIP were increased 22.8%, and 34.8%, respectively (P < 0.05), whereas HR and PETCO2 remained unchanged. CONCLUSIONS: The non-invasive cardiopulmonary monitor using partial CO2 rebreathing method, could be used with ease and safety in a laparoscopic cholecystectomy.
Airway Resistance ; Arterial Pressure ; Cardiac Output ; Central Venous Pressure ; Cholecystectomy, Laparoscopic ; Compliance ; Heart Rate ; Humans ; Insufflation ; Mortality ; Partial Pressure ; Propofol ; Respiratory System* ; Supine Position ; Vascular Resistance

BACKGROUND: There are many objective and subjective methods for measuring the level of preoperative anxiety, but commonly used methods, such as HADS (hospital anxiety depression scale) and VAS (visual analogue scale), are not simple and easily used by patients. APAIS (Amsterdam preoperative anxiety and information scale) is a newly developed preoperative anxiety measuring instrument. The object of this study was to evaluate the ability of APAIS to overcome the limitations of other anxiety measuring instruments. METHODS: 105 adult patients were asked to fill out the questionnaires in APAIS and HADS and also to mark on a 100 mm line in VAS in the range of 0 (calm) to 100 (terrified) how tense they felt at that moment in the evening before surgery. 95 patients responded to the questionnaire. We compared APAIS with the other subjective measurements of anxiety according to patients' sex, ASA class, past history of surgery and level of education, and evaluated the equivalence of the three methods. RESULTS: APAIS has a significant relationship with the other two methods (P < 0.05), but the other two methods have no significant relationship. The data of the APAIS showed a nearly symmetrical distribution as compared with that of HADS and VAS. Women and patients who had had no surgery were significantly anxious as opposed to men and to patients with previous experience of surgery, respectively (P < 0.05). The HADS and APAIS were in good agreement in defining patients as having normal AFFECT or anxiety and there were significant correlations between the three instruments (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the three scales were equivalent in their assessment of anxiety before surgery. Therefore, APAIS will be useful alternative method of measuring subjective preoperative anxiety.
Adult ; Anxiety* ; Depression* ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation ; Weights and Measures

BACKGROUND: There are many objective and subjective methods for measuring the level of preoperative anxiety, but commonly used methods, such as HADS (hospital anxiety depression scale) and VAS (visual analogue scale), are not simple and easily used by patients. APAIS (Amsterdam preoperative anxiety and information scale) is a newly developed preoperative anxiety measuring instrument. The object of this study was to evaluate the ability of APAIS to overcome the limitations of other anxiety measuring instruments. METHODS: 105 adult patients were asked to fill out the questionnaires in APAIS and HADS and also to mark on a 100 mm line in VAS in the range of 0 (calm) to 100 (terrified) how tense they felt at that moment in the evening before surgery. 95 patients responded to the questionnaire. We compared APAIS with the other subjective measurements of anxiety according to patients' sex, ASA class, past history of surgery and level of education, and evaluated the equivalence of the three methods. RESULTS: APAIS has a significant relationship with the other two methods (P < 0.05), but the other two methods have no significant relationship. The data of the APAIS showed a nearly symmetrical distribution as compared with that of HADS and VAS. Women and patients who had had no surgery were significantly anxious as opposed to men and to patients with previous experience of surgery, respectively (P < 0.05). The HADS and APAIS were in good agreement in defining patients as having normal AFFECT or anxiety and there were significant correlations between the three instruments (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the three scales were equivalent in their assessment of anxiety before surgery. Therefore, APAIS will be useful alternative method of measuring subjective preoperative anxiety.
Adult ; Anxiety* ; Depression* ; Education ; Female ; Humans ; Male ; Transcutaneous Electric Nerve Stimulation ; Weights and Measures