Purpose: This study aimed to explore the experiences of hospice and palliative care (HPC) nurses at inpatient hospice centers in South Korea during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Methods: Data collection was conducted through individual interviews with 15 HPC nurses using face-to-face interviews, telephone calls, or Zoom videoconferencing. Data were analyzed using the thematic analysis method. Results: This study found that HPC nurses experienced practical and ethical dilemmas that reinforced the essential meaning and value of hospice and palliative care. The participants emphasized their practical roles related to compliance with infection prevention measures and their roles as rebuilders of hospice and palliative care. Conclusion The findings of this study indicate that inpatient hospice centers must mitigate the practical and ethical dilemmas experienced by nurses, consider establishing explanation nursing units, and provide education to support nurses’ highlighted roles during the pandemic. This study can be used to prepare inpatient hospice centers and the nurses that work there for future infectious disease outbreaks.

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the nutritional status of liver transplantation (LT) recipients and explore certain factors that influence nutritional status, including dietary patterns and physical activities. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study. The subjects included 211 LT recipients at a medical center outpatient clinic located in Seoul, Korea. The nutritional status, dietary patterns, and physical activities of each subject were measured using the body mass index (BMI), Mini Dietary Assessment (MDA), and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The percentages of living and deceased donor LTs were 81.0% and 19.0%, respectively. The mean BMIs pre- and post-LT were 23.88 and 23.16 kg/m2, respectively, and the average MDA score was 36.55. More than 60.0% of the subjects had a moderate or high level of physical activity. In multivariate analysis, a higher BMI before LT (β=.72, p<.001), a lower Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score (β=−.18, p<.001), and being male (β=−.10, p=.024) contributed to better nutritional status post-LT. Patients within six months of LT were less engaged in muscle exercises than those post six months of LT (p=.020). CONCLUSION: LT recipients in Korea have good nutritional status and a good level of physical activity. To improve recipients' post-LT nutritional status, the pre-LT nutritional status should be considered, particularly in those with a higher MELD score. In addition, physical activity including muscle-strengthening exercises should be encouraged from an earlier stage.
Ambulatory Care Facilities ; Body Mass Index ; Exercise ; Feeding Behavior ; Humans ; Korea ; Linear Models ; Liver Diseases ; Liver Transplantation ; Liver ; Male ; Motor Activity ; Multivariate Analysis ; Nutritional Status ; Seoul ; Tissue Donors ; Transplant Recipients

PURPOSE: This study aimed to investigate the nutritional status of liver transplantation (LT) recipients and explore certain factors that influence nutritional status, including dietary patterns and physical activities. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study. The subjects included 211 LT recipients at a medical center outpatient clinic located in Seoul, Korea. The nutritional status, dietary patterns, and physical activities of each subject were measured using the body mass index (BMI), Mini Dietary Assessment (MDA), and Global Physical Activity Questionnaire. Independent t-test, one-way analysis of variance, and multiple linear regression analysis were used to analyze the data. RESULTS: The percentages of living and deceased donor LTs were 81.0% and 19.0%, respectively. The mean BMIs pre- and post-LT were 23.88 and 23.16 kg/m2, respectively, and the average MDA score was 36.55. More than 60.0% of the subjects had a moderate or high level of physical activity. In multivariate analysis, a higher BMI before LT (β=.72, p<.001), a lower Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) score (β=−.18, p<.001), and being male (β=−.10, p=.024) contributed to better nutritional status post-LT. Patients within six months of LT were less engaged in muscle exercises than those post six months of LT (p=.020). CONCLUSION LT recipients in Korea have good nutritional status and a good level of physical activity. To improve recipients' post-LT nutritional status, the pre-LT nutritional status should be considered, particularly in those with a higher MELD score. In addition, physical activity including muscle-strengthening exercises should be encouraged from an earlier stage.

BACKGROUND: The clinical importance of transfusing older RBCs versus newer RBCs remains controversial, with some studies identifying adverse consequences and others have not. We evaluated the age of RBCs transfused in a Korean tertiary hospital and the improvement of the in-hospital inventory period by reducing the level of inventory in the hospital blood bank. METHODS: The packed RBCs that were issued from November 14th, 2009 to November 13th, 2010 were analyzed. The inventory level was reduced in May 14th, 2010. We compared the total inventory period, the in-hospital inventory period and the pre-delivery period between before inventory reduction and after inventory reduction. RESULTS: The in-hospital inventory period of the packed RBCs was significantly shortened after inventory reduction (6.0 day vs. 4.0 day, P<0.0001). Because the pre-delivery period was prolonged due to a temporary increase of blood donations, the total inventory period was not shortened. CONCLUSION: This study provides that the in-hospital inventory period can be improved by reducing the inventory levels in the hospital, but further studies are required to decide what the adequate inventory levels should be.
Blood Banks ; Blood Donors ; Erythrocytes ; Humans ; Tertiary Care Centers

BACKGROUND: Previous studies have shown that thyroglobulin (Tg) measurement in fine-needle aspirates (FNA) of lymph nodes can assist in evaluating cervical lymph node metastasis. In this study, we evaluated the diagnostic performances of FNA-Tg, serum-Tg, and FNA-Tg/serum-Tg in detecting lymph node metastasis. METHODS: We retrospectively analyzed the diagnostic performances of FNA-Tg and serum-Tg in 641 cases (518 patients) with papillary thyroid cancer that underwent ultrasonography-guided fine-needle aspiration of cervical lymph nodes between March 2009 and February 2010. RESULTS: The number of lymph nodes and median FNA-Tg level of the positive lymph node cytology group were 99 and 1,300 ng/mL (range, 0.2-5,000), respectively, whereas corresponding values in the negative cytology group were 359 and 4.7 ng/mL (range, 0.1-1,173). The AUCs of FNA-Tg, serum-Tg, and FNA-Tg/serum-Tg ratio were 0.93 (95% CI, 0.90-0.97), 0.64 (95% CI, 0.57-0.70), and 0.83 (95% CI, 0.78-0.88), respectively. The sensitivity and specificity of FNA-Tg were 90.9% and 98.3%, respectively, and the percentage agreement with the cytology results was 96.7%. CONCLUSIONS: The agreement of FNA-Tg with the cytology results was good at the cutoff value of 35.9 ng/mL. The measurement of FNA-Tg in cases with uninterpretable cytology results can be useful in evaluating lymph node metastasis of papillary thyroid cancer.
Area Under Curve ; Biopsy, Fine-Needle ; Lymph Nodes ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Retrospective Studies ; Sensitivity and Specificity ; Thyroglobulin ; Thyroid Gland ; Thyroid Neoplasms

BACKGROUND: Therapeutic plasma exchange (TPE) is an effective and practical treatment for separation and removal of harmful antibodies or pathogenic substances from the blood. The volume of plasma removed must be replaced by a replacement fluid such as 4~5% albumin solution or Fresh frozen plasma (FFP). We conducted a study of coagulopathy using albumin solution and checked the chemical composition of fresh frozen plasma. METHODS: We measured pre- and post-TPE PT/aPTT for evaluation of the effect of albumin replacement on coagulation from 192 TPE sessions of 19 patients. We also investigated routine chemistry test items including glucose and electrolytes from 10 randomly selected FFP. RESULTS: The post PT and aPTT within four hours after TPE were prolonged due to a transient decrease in coagulation factors, but were normalized within 2 days after TPE. All coagulation time was corrected to the level of the pre-TPE status within four hours before the next TPE except the patients who received TPE 6 times or more. FFP showed higher level in glucose, sodium and inorganic phosphate. CONCLUSION: Albumin exchange produces temporary coagulation factor deficiency. However, this transient factor deficiency rarely causes clinical problems and the factors are rapidly corrected by redistribution and resynthesis. We should be careful about hypocalcemia, hyperglycemia, and hypernatremia when using FFP replacement.
Antibodies ; Blood Coagulation Factors ; Chemistry ; Electrolytes ; Glucose ; Humans ; Hyperglycemia ; Hypernatremia ; Hypocalcemia ; Plasma ; Plasma Exchange* ; Sodium

BACKGROUND: Blood supply circumstances in Korea have changed in recent decades because of blood supplier diversification and restructuring of hospital blood donation centers. The purpose of this study is to understand the current status of hospital blood donation centers and their satisfaction levels with the Korean Red Cross Blood Center (KRCBC) and compare with the previous results for sustainable development of the blood supply system. METHODS: During one month in November 2014, we conducted a questionnaire survey through e-mail in 64 hospital blood donation centers which are approved by government. The response rate was 97% (62/64 hospitals). Responses from 62 hospitals were analyzed. RESULTS: The number of hospital blood donation centers were reduced by half from 129 in 2004 to 64 in 2014. There was no blood donation center in hospitals less than 400 beds, except 2 hospitals; 23 hospital (37.1%) blood banks collected no blood components. More than 80% of hospitals were satisfied with the KRCBC service such as donor record lookup and nucleic acid amplification Test (NAT) results lookup. Hospitals with more than 1,000 beds replied that they would not take account of transferring the collection services to KRCBC because of the directed and autologous donation and unexpected emergency blood transfusion. CONCLUSION: The government should be the subject of national blood policy and establish a committee or agency for its comprehensive and consistent execution through close cooperation with the KRCBC and hospitals.
Blood Banks ; Blood Donors* ; Blood Transfusion ; Natural Resources ; Electronic Mail ; Emergencies ; Humans ; Korea ; Nucleic Acid Amplification Techniques ; Red Cross* ; Tissue Donors

BACKGROUND: Massive transfusion (MT) is an unusual event and has been defined as replacement of total body fluid volume in less 24 hours or transfusion of 10 or more RBC units in 24 hours. MT is a high priority treatment for major blood loss. METHODS: We gathered 78 patients receiving MT from 2008 to 2013 at Severance hospital using electronic medical records and performed a retrospective review. For each case, we analyzed patients' characteristics, including sex, age, major causes of MT, and clinical outcome. We also calculated the ratio of each blood component transfused. RESULTS: Patient sex ratio of male and female was 1.60 and percentage of patients over age 40 was 58.4%. The individual diagnostic categories were 28.2% of cardiovascular surgery, 26.9% of liver transplantation, 11.5% of upper gastrointestinal bleeding, and 5.2% of trauma. The overall mortality rate was 47.3%. Mortality rate ranged from the lowest (52.3%) for liver transplantation to the highest (77.8%) for upper gastrointestinal tract bleeding. No correlation was observed between causes of MT and mortality rate. The average usage of FFP: RBC and platelet: RBC ratio was 0.83 and 0.68, respectively. However, recently, the ratio of two components transfused is close to 1.0. CONCLUSION: The highest priority in MT was rapidity and propriety for improvement of patient survival. By regularly reviewing MT cases, we could provide an improved massive transfusion service.
Blood Platelets ; Blood Transfusion* ; Body Fluids ; Electronic Health Records ; Female ; Hemorrhage ; Humans ; Liver Transplantation ; Male ; Mortality ; Retrospective Studies ; Sex Ratio ; Tertiary Care Centers* ; Upper Gastrointestinal Tract

BACKGROUND: Fractional CO₂ laser is an effective treatment for scars, but most patients complain about sharp burning pain, even after the application of lidocaine ointment. This study analyzed the impact of a vibrating device to nonpharmacologically reduce the acute pain of laser treatment, in accordance with the gate control theory of pain management. METHODS: This is a prospective study performed from May 2013 through March 2014. Fifty-three patients (mean age, 26.7 years; range, 16–44 years) who had donated livers for liver transplantation were treated with a fractional CO2 laser (10,600 nm; model eCO₂, Lutronic Corp) for their abdomen scars. Laser treatment was applied 4 months after surgery. A commercially available, locally applied vibrating device (model UM-30M, Unix Electronics Co. Ltd.) was used, in an on-and-off pattern, together with the CO2 laser. A visual analogue scale (VAS; 0, no pain; 10, most severe pain) of pain sensation was assessed and statistically analyzed using a paired t-test. RESULTS: The average VAS score for pain with the vibrating device was 4.60 and the average VAS score without the vibrating device was 6.11. The average difference between scores was 1.51 (P=0.001). CONCLUSIONS: A locally applied vibrating device was demonstrated to be effective in reducing pain when treating with a fractional CO₂ laser. Vibration treatment could be helpful when treating scars with fractional CO₂ laser in pain-sensitive patients, particularly children.
Abdomen ; Acute Pain ; Burns ; Child ; Cicatrix* ; Humans ; Laser Therapy* ; Lasers, Gas ; Lidocaine ; Liver ; Liver Transplantation ; Pain Management ; Prospective Studies ; Sensation ; Vibration*

Approximately 80-85% of D-negative (D-) persons produce anti-D antibodies after exposure to D-positive (D+) red blood cells (RBCs). Previously, anti-D was the most commonly detected Rh antibody, but its incidence has greatly decreased due to the prophylactic use of Rh immunoglobulin (RhIG). Anti-D antibody formation may occur following RhD-incompatible organ transplantation when D- recipients are exposed to D+ RBCs that originate from a donor organ. As a large volume of donor blood may be contained within the transplanted organ, the use of a large amount of RhIG is required in RhD-incompatible liver transplantation. Here, we describe the use of a large amount of RhIG to treat a patient following RhD-incompatible liver transplantation. This patient was a 71-yr-old woman with hepatitis C virus-related liver cirrhosis, who had an A/D- blood type. The donor was her grandson, whose blood type was O/D+. The recipient's preoperative anti-D antibody test was negative. One unit of O/D- irradiated leukoreduced RBCs and three units of A/D- fresh frozen plasma were transfused during liver transplantation. An equal amount (12,000 IU) of RhIG was infused intravenously, immediately after liver transplantation and a second time on post-operation day 1. The anti-D titer was 1:64 on the first post-operation day, and had increased to 1:128 by the following day. By 1 month after the surgery, the titer had decreased to 1:4. In this case of liver transplantation, RhIG was actively used to prevent RhD sensitization and the subsequent occurrence of adverse events associated with RhD-incompatible liver transplantation.
Antibodies ; Antibody Formation ; Erythrocytes ; Female ; Hepatitis C ; Humans ; Immunoglobulins* ; Incidence ; Liver Cirrhosis ; Liver Transplantation* ; Organ Transplantation ; Plasma ; Tissue Donors ; Transplants