BACKGROUND: This study was performed to evaluate our experience on laparoscopic appendectomy. METHODS: Retrospective analysis was performed on 2,856 patients who had been operated by laparoscopic appendectomy under diagnosis of acute appendicitis at the Sung-Ae Hospital and Kwang-Myoung Sung-Ae Hospital from October 1991 to July 1998. RESULTS: Among 2,856 patients who had undergone laparoscopic appendectomy,2,379 patients (83.3%) were operated due to simple acute appendicitis, 275 patients (9.6%) due to perforated appendicitis. Operation time was 44.6 minutes for simple acute appendicitis and 60.3 minutes for perforated appendicitis. In perforated appendicitis, intra-peritoneal irrigation and drain insertion was performed. The length of hospital stay in patient with simple acute appendicitis was 3.7 days (5.82 days in conventional appendectomy) and patients with perfotrated appendicitis was 6.1 days (9.91 days in conventional appen-dectomy). Complications such as wound infection, intra-abdomen abscess, trocar site bleeding, subcutaneous emphysema developed in 43 (1.5%) patients (79/1,947, 4.5% in conventional appendectomy). In 202 (7.1%) patients, appendix was normal, but another diseases were detected, including acute pelvic inflammation, ovarian cyst, mesenteric lymphadenitis, enteritis, diverticulitis in order. CONCLUSION: Overall complication rate was lower in laparoscopic appendectomy compared with conventional appendectomy and the length of hospitalization of laparoscopic appendectomy was shorter. When the acute appendicitis is suspected, especially in the reproductive women, the laparoscopic approach would be better diagnostic and therapeutic value than conventional method. Therefore laparoscopic appendectomy would be replaced with conventional appendectomy.
Abscess ; Appendectomy* ; Appendicitis ; Appendix ; Diagnosis ; Diverticulitis ; Enteritis ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Hospitalization ; Humans ; Inflammation ; Length of Stay ; Mesenteric Lymphadenitis ; Ovarian Cysts ; Retrospective Studies ; Subcutaneous Emphysema ; Surgical Instruments ; Wound Infection

No abstract available.
Ganglia, Spinal* ; Longitudinal Ligaments*

No abstract available.
Female ; Humans ; Leukemia, Promyelocytic, Acute* ; Pregnant Women*

No abstract available.
Dinoprostone* ; Membranes* ; Rupture* ; Suppositories*

No abstract available.
Fetal Death*

The purpose of this study was to provide preliminary data for better safety control over children's preference foods sold in school stores. The survey was conducted from June to July 2009, to collect 749 types of children's preference foods sold in 150 middle and high school stores nation-wide excluding Jeju Island and general and nutrition information were analyzed. Out of 749 types of snack food items, 689 and 602 snacks were sold at high school and middle school stores respectively. Among children's preference foods, cookies, bread, and ice-cream were the main items. Among them, 98% of snacks were domestic products and the price range of each individual snacks were mostly between 600 and 900 won. 27.8% of children's preference foods sold were found to be in the high calorie/low nutrition food group. Even though the proportion of candy and fruit/vegetable beverages sold were not high, their proportion in high calorie/low nutrition snack group were higher than 68.1%. Among the children's preference foods sold in middleand high school stores, carbonated drinks and ramen were continuously sold in certain middle and high schools, even though sales were prohibited. This study concludes that government, corporations and retailers should work together in developing healthier children's snack distribution environment. In addition, dairy products, which take up 15% of children's preference food, should be diversified to meet their nutrient requirements.
Beverages ; Bread ; Candy ; Carbonated Beverages ; Commerce ; Dairy Products ; Humans ; Snacks

This study was designed to evaluate the potential application of MRI in differentiating static blood from thrombus, age-related changes of thrombus and the signal differences of the intravascular thrombus in various pulse sequences. External jugular vein was ligated at both upper and lower ends to form a static blood column, and thrombin was injected into the column to cause venous thrombosis in a total of 15 mongrel dogs. The MR images were obtained with T1-and T2-weighted spin echo and gradient echo techniques, immediately after the formation of static blood and after 2 hour, 1 day, 1 week, 2 weeks and 4 weeks of the formation of thrombus at a 2.0T MR unit. The signal intensities of the thrombus and adjacent muscles were compared stubjectively, and the signal intensity ratio was compared objectively by the measurement of the signal intensities using a cursor. The MRI findings were compared with histologic findings. The signal intensities of static blood were hyperintense in all pulse sequences, and those of 2-hour, 1-day and 1-week-old thrombi were hyperintense in all pulse sequences. The number of experimental thrombi which showed isointensity on T1-and T2-weighted image, and hypointensity on gradient echo image increased as thrombi aged. The signal intensities of 2-week-old thrombus were isointense on T1-weighted image, hyperintense on T2-weighted image, and hypointense on gradient echo image, while those of 4-week-old thrombus were isointense on T1-weighted and T2-weighted image, and hypointense on gradient echo image in most experimental thrombi. There was a tendency to decrease in a signal intensity ratio as thrombi aged on T1-weighted, T2-weighted and gradient echo images(P<0.01) Histologically, thrombus was not formed and lumen was filled with many red blood cells(RBCs) in 2-hour-old specimen, but fibrin mesh was visible and RBCs decreased in number in 1-day-old specimen. In 1-week-old specimen, vessel was contracted and lumen was filled with thombus, RBCs, platelets, many fibrins and capillary-like strucrutes. The histologic findings of 2-week-old thrombus were similar to those of 1-week-old one except calcification. In 4-week-old specimen, vessels were contracted and lumen was obliterated with fibrosis and organization of the thrombus. Therefore, it is possible to diagnose thrombus, and to assess sequential changes of MRI findings of thrombus by using all pulse sequences, and these results can be essential bases for the interpretation of MR images of patients with venous thrombosis.
Animals ; Dogs* ; Fibrin ; Fibrosis ; Humans ; Jugular Veins ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging* ; Muscles ; Thrombin ; Thrombosis ; Venous Thrombosis*

BACKGROUND: Colistin (polymyxin E) is active against multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (MDR-GNB). However, the effectiveness of inhaled colistin is unclear. This study was designed to assess the effectiveness and safety of aerosolized colistin for the treatment of ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) caused by MDR-GNB. METHODS: In this retrospective longitudinal study, we evaluated the medical records of 63 patients who received aerosolized colistin treatment for VAP caused by MDR-GNB in the medical intensive care unit (MICU) from February 2012 to March 2014. RESULTS: A total of 25 patients with VAP caused by MDR-GNB were included in this study. The negative conversion rate was 84.6% after treatment, and acute kidney injury (AKI) occurred in 11 patients (44%, AKI group). The average length of MICU stay and colistin treatment- related factors, such as daily and total cumulative doses and administration period, were not significantly different between groups. In-hospital mortality tended to be higher in the AKI group (p = 0.07). Multivariate analysis showed that a body mass index less than 18 was an independent risk factor of mortality (odds ratio [OR] = 21.95, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.59-302.23; p = 0.02). Notably, AKI occurrence was closely related to the administration of more than two nephrotoxic drugs combined with aerosolized colistin (OR = 15.03, 95% CI 1.40-161.76; p = 0.025) and septic shock (OR = 8.10, 95% CI 1.40-161.76; p = 0.04). CONCLUSIONS: The use of adjunctive aerosolized colistin treatment appears to be a relatively safe and effective option for the treatment of VAP caused by MDR-GNB. However, more research on the concomitant use of nephrotoxic drugs with aerosolized colistin will be necessary, as this can be an important risk factor of development of AKI.
Acute Kidney Injury ; Body Mass Index ; Colistin* ; Drug Resistance, Microbial ; Gram-Negative Bacteria ; Hospital Mortality ; Humans ; Intensive Care Units ; Longitudinal Studies ; Medical Records ; Mortality ; Multivariate Analysis ; Pneumonia* ; Pneumonia, Ventilator-Associated ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Shock, Septic ; Treatment Outcome*

Monitoring fetal movement serves as an indirect rneasure of fetal well-being, especially for central nervous system integrity and function. Methods to monitor fetal movement vary from the simple approach of having the mother chart perceived movement to highly specialized methods. However there were no reliable objective monitoring methods in Korea. For development of objective method for evaluating fetal movement, during pregnancy, one-hundred and two pregnant patients were entered to this study. All patients were divided into following 3 groups and each type of monitoring methods were applied. Group 1(N=20): Type I using portable FHR Doppler unit(IFD-100 model, Intermed, Korea). Group 2(N=20): Type II using FHR Microphone(Prenatal Listening Kit, Model FS002, Unisar Inc., US). Group 3(N=62): Type III using conventional ultrasound transducer(Corometric 115 Model, US). In this study, accurate counting of the fetal movementutus were best performed using Type III, because of monitoring fetal movements has its greatest efficiency when using conventional ultrasound transducer of fetal monitor. It was also attractive to doctors and nurses as a convenient methods because it needed only single transducer when compared to Type I and II. Although monitoring fetal body movement permits a general assessment of well-being, no perfect technique is still reliable. Futher techniques would be developed using the results of this study for improvement of several factors such as accuracy and objectiveness
Central Nervous System ; Fetal Monitoring ; Fetal Movement* ; Humans ; Korea ; Mothers ; Pregnancy* ; Transducers ; Ultrasonography

Obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS) is caused by repetitive upper-airway narrowing or collapse during sleep resulting in hypopneas and apneas. When a patient is diagnosed of OSAS with polysomnogram, he/she should receive upper airway evaluation to find the narrow site. The anatomic narrow site can be nasal cavity, nasopharynx, oropharynx, and/or hypopharynx. Surgical treatment for OSAS should be tailored to the anatomic narrow site. In this article, the authors describe surgical treatment options for OSAS.
Apnea ; Humans ; Hypopharynx ; Nasal Cavity ; Nasopharynx ; Oropharynx ; Polysomnography ; Sleep Apnea, Obstructive*