Nutritional support is one of the major advances in the history of medicine in the 20th century. Since Dudrick and associates (1968) achieved the first successful nutritional support in puppies and human infants with short bowel syndrome, this technology has expanded as a gospel throughout the world. We can supply almost all of the macro-and-micro-nutrients and calories as much as we need. However, utilities of some specific nutrients have to be limited only by the defined metabolism and the pathophysiology under the concept of nutritional pharmacology. This paper is for a practical review of the nutritional support for physicians who are working in the primary and secondary care centers in this country.
History of Medicine ; Humans ; Infant ; Malnutrition ; Metabolism ; Nutritional Support* ; Pharmacology ; Secondary Care Centers ; Short Bowel Syndrome

PURPOSE: The use of abdominal computed tomography (ACT) utilization is increasing to a remarkable extent in the pediatric Emergency Department (ED), but the clinical benefit of increased use of ACT for pediatric surgical patients remains uncertain. METHODS: A retrospective review was conducted to investigate if, for patients who had visited pediatric ED during the last 5 years, increasing utilization of ACT would increase the detection rate of acute appendicitis, increase the detection rate of surgical conditions other than appendicitis, and decrease the hospital admission rate for surgical conditions. RESULTS: During the study period, there were 37,918 ED visits; of these, 3,274 (8.6%) were for abdominal pain, 844 (2.2%) had ACT performed. The annual proportional increase of the ACT was statistically significant (1.56% to 2.46%, P = 0.00), but the detection rate of acute appendicitis (3.3% to 5.1%) or other surgical conditions (1.7% to 2.8%) showed no statistically significant changes. Hospital admission rates (5.6% to 6.8%) also showed no significant changes during the study period. CONCLUSION: Increasing utilization of ACT does not lead to the improved outcomes in caring for pediatric surgical patients visiting the pediatric ED. Careful evaluation for the indication for ACT is needed in the pediatric ED.
Abdominal Pain ; Appendicitis ; Emergency Service, Hospital* ; Humans ; Retrospective Studies ; Secondary Care Centers* ; Tomography, X-Ray Computed*

PURPOSE: Interhospital transfers are necessary to meet the needs for emergency medical care with limited resources. 1339 emergency medical information centers are responsible for arranging interhospital transfers. We analyzed the requests for transfer received by an emergency medical information center to explore ways to improve the effectiveness and appropriateness of interhospital transfers. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed 830 requests for interhospital transfers received by the Busan 1339 Emergency Medical Information Center from Aug 1, 2002, to Oct 31, 2002, by using record from the Center's computer system. RESULTS: Among the total 830 requests, 271 requests were due to trauma, 242 requests were due to acute diseases, 212 were due to chronic diseases, and 39 were due to intoxication. The center managed 647 requests (78.0%) successfully, but 183 requests (22.0%) were impossible to arrange. Transport from a tertiary care facility to a secondary care facility accounted for the majority of requests (305 requests: 36.7%). Over half of the requests were because of temporarily unavailable resources (483 requests: 58.2%). CONCLUSION: Interhospital transfers mediated by the Emergency Medical Information Center are helpful to alleviate emergency department overcrowding and to effectively utilize emergency medical resources.
Acute Disease ; Busan ; Chronic Disease ; Computer Systems ; Emergencies* ; Emergency Medical Services ; Emergency Service, Hospital ; Information Centers* ; Retrospective Studies ; Secondary Care Centers ; Tertiary Healthcare

PURPOSE: This study aims to investigate treatment of cancer patients at a secondary hospital. METHODS: A retrospective analysis was performed with electronic medical records of cancer patients admitted to a secondary hospital from January 1, 2009 through September 31, 2017. RESULTS: A total of 223 patients were studied. Sixty-nine patients were hospitalized for supportive care after receiving a surgery, chemotherapy, and radiotherapy at a tertiary hospital, 58 patients for other supportive care, 53 patients for symptom control, 16 patients with a decision not to take active cancer treatment, and 27 patients for treatment of cancer that was diagnosed during their hospital stay. Among 75 patients who were discharged to other institutions, 50 were transferred to tertiary hospitals, 10 to long-term care hospitals, eight to hospice hospitals, four to nursing homes and two to secondary hospitals. Comorbidities were found in 120 patients (53.8%). For patients who consulted with more than one department, more consultations were for non-cancer diseases than cancer. Seventy-three patients had a do-not-resuscitate order. CONCLUSION: For treatment of cancer patients, it is needed to establish a cooperation system among medical institutions and provide comprehensive management including treatment of comorbidities.
Comorbidity ; Drug Therapy ; Electronic Health Records ; Hospices ; Humans ; Korea* ; Length of Stay ; Long-Term Care ; Nursing Homes ; Palliative Care ; Radiotherapy ; Referral and Consultation ; Resuscitation Orders ; Retrospective Studies ; Secondary Care Centers ; Tertiary Care Centers

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Chronic daily headache (CDH) is defined as a headache disorder in which headaches occur on a daily or near-daily basis (at least 15 days/month) for more than 3 months. Chronic migraine (CM) and medication overuse headache (MOH) are very disabling headaches that remain underdiagnosed. The aim of this study was to establish the frequency of CDH and its various subtypes, and examine the associations with MOH among first-visit headache patients presenting at neurology outpatient clinics in Korea. METHODS: Eleven neurologists enrolled first-visit patients with complaints of headaches into outpatient clinics for further assessment. Headache disorders were classified according to the International Classification of Headache Disorder (third edition beta version) by each investigator. RESULTS: Primary CDH was present in 248 (15.2%) of the 1,627 included patients, comprising CM (143, 8.8%), chronic tension-type headache (CTTH) (98, 6%), and definite new daily persistent headache (NDPH) (7, 0.4%). MOH was associated with headache in 81 patients (5%). The association with MOH was stronger among CM patients (34.5%) than patients with CTTH (13.3%) or NDPH (14.3%) (p=0.001). The frequency of CDH did not differ between secondary and tertiary referral hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: The frequencies of CDH and MOH diagnoses were 15.2% and 5%, respectively in first-visit headache patients presented at secondary or tertiary referral hospitals in Korea. CM was the most common subtype of CDH and was most frequently associated with MOH.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Classification ; Diagnosis ; Epidemiology ; Headache Disorders* ; Headache Disorders, Secondary* ; Headache* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Migraine Disorders ; Neurology ; Prescription Drug Overuse* ; Research Personnel ; Tension-Type Headache ; Tertiary Care Centers

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This study aimed to compare the clinical characteristics and management patterns of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) patients in a secondary hospital (SH) with those in tertiary referral centers (TRC). METHODS: Data from IBD patients in SH and 2 TRCs were retrospectively reviewed. The cumulative thiopurine use rate was compared between hospitals after controlling for different baseline characteristics using propensity score matching. RESULTS: Among the total of 447 patients with IBD, 178 Crohn's disease (CD) and 269 ulcerative colitis (UC) patients were included. Regarding initial CD symptoms, patients from SH were more likely to show perianal symptoms, such as anal pain or discharge (56.6% vs. 34.3%, P=0.003), whereas those from TRCs more often had luminal symptoms, such as abdominal pain (54.9% vs. 17.1%, P < 0.001), diarrhea (44.1% vs. 18.4%, P < 0.001), and body weight loss (9.8% vs. 1.3%, P=0.025). Complicating behaviors, such as stricturing and penetrating, were significantly higher in TRCs, while perianal disease was more common in SH. Ileal location was more frequently observed in TRCs. For UC, SH had a more limited extent of disease (proctitis 58.8% vs. 21.2%, P < 0.001). The cumulative azathioprine use rate in SH was significantly lower than that in TRCs in both CD and UC patients after controlling for disease behavior, location, and perianal disease of CD and extent of UC. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical characteristics and management of the IBD patients in SH were substantially different from those in TRCs. Thiopurine treatment was less commonly used for SH patients.
Abdominal Pain ; Azathioprine ; Body Weight ; Colitis, Ulcerative ; Crohn Disease ; Diarrhea ; Humans ; Inflammatory Bowel Diseases* ; Phenobarbital ; Propensity Score* ; Retrospective Studies ; Secondary Care ; Tertiary Care Centers*

BACKGROUND: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is a public health problem and human rights concern that has an enormous impact on physical, mental, reproductive and socioeconomic aspects of health. Several health professional organizations recommend screening for violence though current screening rates tend to be low because healthcare providers are generally hesitant to be involved in dealing with women who are victims of violence.

OBJECTIVE: This study therefore attempted to assess the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of obstetricians and gynecologists on screening for intimate partner violence in a private tertiary hospital.

MATERIALS AND METHODS: The Physician Readiness to Manage Intimate Partner Violence Survey (PREMIS) tool was utilized among 123 obstetricians and gynecologists in a private tertiary hospital in Pasig, Metro Manila, with a response rate of 65.8% (81/123).

RESULTS: Results showed that the sample participants did not have adequate knowledge on IPV; majority of the sample participants were not fully prepared and equipped to handle patients who are victims of IPV; and the sample participants did not routinely screen for IPV.

CONCLUSION: In the Philippines, the obstetricians and gynecologists generally act as the primary care physicians to the general female population. This provides them a good opportunity to be involved in the secondary prevention of IPV. Recognition of barriers to screening for IPV, development of strategies for increasing awareness to IPV, and education and training of physicians and allied health care professionals may improve the screening practices for IPV. These in turn will help them to provide appropriate, effective, and holistic care to their patients who are victims of violence. 

Human ; Physicians, Primary Care ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Spouse Abuse ; Public Health ; Secondary Prevention ; Philippines ; Violence ; Intimate Partner Violence ; Attitude ; Human Rights

BACKGROUND: Delivery of pathology reports to the patient is a key step in the biopsy pathway, which is important for patient safety in dermatology. Automated systems for facilitating such medical process began in 2010 in our hospital, sending short message service to scheduled patients. OBJECTIVE: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the delivery of pathology reports to patients and investigate factors that influence this process and annual trends. METHODS: We retrospectively reviewed the medical records of all outpatients (n=2,452) who underwent skin biopsy at our department of dermatology in 2009 and 2014. In each year group, we analyzed the proportion of revisiting patients in terms of year, sex, age, season, biopsy method and diagnosis. RESULTS: In 2009, a smaller proportion of patients (205; 91.5%) who had undergone shave or excisional biopsy than of those who had undergone punch biopsy returned (781; 98.0%; p<0.001). This trend was not significant in 2014. Whereas there was no significant difference of return visit ratio between men and women in 2009, a higher proportion of women (754; 98.0%) than men (633; 95.6%) re-visited after skin biopsy to confirm their diagnosis in 2014 (p=0.008). Three patients with either a malignant tumor or suspected malignant lesion that required complete excision did not return to our clinic. CONCLUSION: Pathology report delivery rates were fairly satisfactory, regardless of year, age, season, and diagnosis. Sex and biopsy method influenced the return visit ratio. More organized follow-up protocols are required to strengthen patient safety and prevent critical patient drop-out.
Biopsy ; Dermatology ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Follow-Up Studies ; Humans ; Male ; Medical Records ; Methods ; Outpatients ; Pathology* ; Patient Safety ; Retrospective Studies ; Seasons ; Secondary Care Centers* ; Skin ; Text Messaging

PURPOSE: Bowel preparation with sodium phosphate was recently prohibited by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Polyethylene glycol (PEG) is safe and effective; however, it is difficult to drink. To identify an easy bowel preparation method for colonoscopy, we evaluated three different bowel preparation regimens regarding their efficacy and patient satisfaction. METHODS: In this randomized, comparative study, 892 patients who visited a secondary referral hospital for a colonoscopy between November 2012 and February 2013 were enrolled. Three regimens were evaluated: three packets of sodium picosulfate/magnesium citrate (PICO, group A), two packets of PICO with 1 L of PEG (PICO + PEG 1 L, group B), and two packets of PICO with 2 L of PEG (PICO + PEG 2 L, group C). A questionnaire survey regarding the patients' preference for the bowel preparation regimen and satisfaction was conducted before the colonoscopies. The quality of bowel cleansing was scored by the colonoscopists who used the Aronchick scoring scale and the Ottawa scale. RESULTS: The patients' satisfaction rate regarding the regimens were 72% in group A, 64% in group B, and 45.9% in group C. Nausea and abdominal bloating caused by the regimens were more frequent in group C than in group A or group B (P < 0.01). Group C showed the lowest preference rate compared to the other groups (P < 0.01). Group C showed better right colon cleansing efficacy than group A or group B. CONCLUSION: Group A exhibited a better result than group B or group C in patient satisfaction and preference. In the cleansing quality, no difference was noted between groups A and C.
Citric Acid* ; Colon ; Colonoscopy* ; Humans ; Nausea ; Patient Satisfaction ; Polyethylene Glycols ; Secondary Care Centers ; Sodium* ; United States Food and Drug Administration ; Surveys and Questionnaires

BACKGROUND: In spite of various types of medical supports, many diabetic patients have not been cared adequately. This study was performed to investigate the clinical characteristics and the patterns of management according to the types of the medical institutions. METHODS: Seven private clinics as primary care institutions, 3 hospitals as secondary care institutions, and 2 medical centers as the tertiary care institutions located in Seoul and Gyeonggi province were the targets of investigation for three months from December 2000 to February 2001. The survey included demographic information, biochemical tests and the pharmacological agents used concomitantly. The subjects who have completed the entire tests were respectively 321, 343 and 1830 patients in the primary, secondary and tertiary care centers. RESULTS: There were no significant differences in age and sex distribution among the study groups. The fasting and postprandial blood glucose levels were highest in secondary and primary institutions, respectively. The glycated hemoglobin levels were higher in primary care institutions than in others. In tertiary care institutions, blood pressure and lipid profile (total cholesterol, triglyceride and HDL-cholesterol) were better controlled compared with the other study groups. CONCLUSIONS: In spite of the limited data from the selected medical institutions, the overall status of the blood glucose, hypertension and hyperlipidemia management for the diabetic patients in Korea were inadequate in all types of medical institutions. For the better management of the diabetic patients, more efforts will be required including the standard management protocol as well as the education program for the primary physicians.
Blood Glucose ; Blood Pressure ; Cholesterol ; Diabetes Mellitus ; Education ; Fasting ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Hemoglobin A, Glycosylated ; Humans ; Hyperlipidemias ; Hypertension ; Korea ; Primary Health Care ; Secondary Care ; Seoul* ; Sex Distribution ; Tertiary Care Centers ; Tertiary Healthcare ; Triglycerides