BACKGROUND: Postoperative admission to the surgical intensive care unit (S-ICU) is commonly planned to prevent and treat complications, unnecessary admission to the S-ICU increases medical costs and length of hospital stay. This study aimed evaluated outcome and the predictive factors for mortality in patients admitted to the S-ICU after abdominal surgery. METHODS: The 168 patients admitted to the S-ICU immediately after abdominal surgery were reviewed retrospectively from January to December 2011. RESULTS: The mortality rate of patients admitted to the S-ICU after abdominal surgery was 8.9% (15 of 168). Two preoperative factors (body mass index [BMI] < 18.5 kg/m2 [p < 0.001] and serum albumin < 3.0 g/dL [p = 0.018]), two operative factors (the need for transfusion [p = 0.008] or vasopressors [p = 0.013] during surgery), and three postoperative variables (mechanical ventilation immediately following surgery [p < 0.001], sequential organ failure assessment [p = 0.001] and SAPS II [p = 0.001] score) were associated with mortality in univariate analysis. After adjusting for age, gender, and SAPS II by a Cox regression, which revealed that BMI < 18.5 kg/m2 (p < 0.001, hazard ratio [HR] 9.690, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.990-25.258) and the use of mechanical ventilation on admission to S-ICU (p < 0.001, HR 34.671, 95% CI 6.440-186.649) were independent prognostic factors. CONCLUSIONS: In patients in S-ICU after abdominal surgery, low BMI and postsurgical mechanical ventilation should be considered important predictors of mortality.
Abdomen* ; Body Mass Index ; Humans ; Critical Care ; Intensive Care Units ; Length of Stay ; Mortality ; Postoperative Complications ; Prognosis* ; Respiration, Artificial ; Retrospective Studies ; Serum Albumin ; Ventilation

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the effect of electrical automatic massage (EAM) at bedtime on sleep quality and fatigue. METHODS: We recruited consecutively 35 adults (23 male, 48.7±8.07 y) who complained of poor sleep (Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index≥5) and fatigue (Chalder Fatigue Scale≥4). This is a cross over study including two consecutive sleep studies with or without EAM. The EAM session includes preset ‘sleep mode’, which last 30 minutes covering whole body. Participants were seated in the commercially available massage chair (REX-L®) under the calm and dim light condition immediately before polysomnography. Participants reported perceived sleep latency, sleep duration, and fatigue using visual analogue scale following morning. RESULTS: Polysomnography parameters and subjective reports were compared between sleep with EAM and sleep without EAM. Paired comparison on average revealed sleep structure improvement N1 (13.6→10.9%) and N2 sleep (59.3→57.2%) decreased, and N3 sleep increased (3.0→6.4%), as well as sleep latency (10.3→5.6 min). Improvement in arousal index (17.1→13.0/h) and apnea-hypopnea index (9.1→7.0/h) were also seen following sleep after EAM. Sleep efficiency and total sleep time were not changed by EAM. Participants subjective reports also indicated better sleep on EAM; more lengthened sleep (306→330 minutes) and more relieved fatigue significantly after EAM. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that muscle relaxation through EAM at bedtime may improve the sleep and alleviate fatigue. It suggests that EAM may be one of alternatives to promote sleep quality. Further studies in a clinical setting are warranted to support this finding.
Adult ; Arousal ; Fatigue* ; Humans ; Male ; Massage* ; Matched-Pair Analysis ; Muscle Relaxation ; Polysomnography ; Relaxation

Operating Room nurses are required to have special skills and knowledge to do their job. However, because there is no systematic education program, which considers special circumstances in the OR, novice nurses have a great deal of difficulty adapting themselves to the work environment. The purpose of this study is to develope a multimedia education program, which provides the systematic learning environment, so novice nurses can adapt to the OR environment more effectively. This study has been implemented according to Computer Assisted Instruction Design Model(Il-Joo Na and In-Sung Jung, 1990), which goes through the following steps; 1). Education program analysis 2). Development, evaluation 3). CompletionLearning goals, objectives, motive strategy, and analysis of the education program are analyzed by the concepts based on basic education materials for novice surgery nurses of 6 Medical Centers in Seoul and 'Development of the job training program for newly employed nurses in operating rooms. 'written by Ji-Young Yoon(2000). We divided 9 areas of the contents in surgery education; 1. Basic orientation 2. OR nurses' roles and responsibilities 3. Asceptic technique 4. Disinfection and sterilization 5. OR safety 6. OR nursing care 7. Surgical positioning 8. OR Material management 9. Anesthetic care. We selected asceptic technique, which is the most fundamental concept in OR nursing care. The program screens consist of cover screen, screen for guide, mini menu screen, and test screen. We distributed questionnaires to fifteen experts and investigated their opinions to analyze learning contents and effects of the Courseware. The education program was modified based on respones provided by experts. This study offers an educational program, which allows the individuals to choose the areas they want to learn. The program is easy to use, which encourages the individuals to search for additional information more than one area.
Computer-Assisted Instruction ; Disinfection ; Education* ; Learning ; Multimedia* ; Nursing Care ; Operating Rooms* ; Surveys and Questionnaires ; Seoul ; Sterilization

PURPOSE: This study aimed to analyze the epidemic period of RSV infection and evaluate the appropriate time of palivizumab immunoprophylaxis. METHODS: From January 1991 to July 2012, nasopharyngeal (NP) aspirates were obtained from patients who visited Seoul National University Children's Hospital for respiratory symptoms. NP samples were used to detect respiratory viruses. Among them, we analyzed the positive number and detection rate of RSV infection in two-week interval. The beginning of RSV season was defined when RSV positive number was more than 4 and RSV detection rate was over 10%. From January 2007 to March 2014, we analyzed the starting time of palivizumab immunoprophylaxis for the infants at high risk. RESULTS: The RSV detection rate was 2,013/21,698 (9.69%) over 22 years. The median RSV season was from 2nd-3rd week of October to 1st- 2nd week of February. The earliest starting week was the 3rd week of July in year 2001, and the latest end week was the 3rd week of May in year 1990. Palivizumab immunoprophylaxis was initiated most frequently at the 3rd week of October (18.7%). However, the percentage of starting palivizumab on the 1st week of September has increased from 3.8% in the year 2007 to 14.1% in 2013. CONCLUSIONS: The year to year variability of RSV season exists. The starting time of palivizumab immunoprophylaxis should be adjusted based on the season of RSV epidemic.
Epidemiology ; Humans ; Infant ; Respiratory Syncytial Viruses* ; Seasons ; Seoul ; Palivizumab

Curative hepatectomy is the most important prognostic factor for hepatic cancer, but also has a high rate of morbidity and mortality. Liver failure due to insufficient liver volume is the main cause of postoperative mortality. Preoperative portal vein embolization can induce hypertrophy of the remnant liver, and a two-stage hepatectomy, with or without portal vein embolization, could be used to treat patients with unresectable liver tumors. We report the case of a successful two-staged hepatectomy for bilateral hepatocellular carcinoma with tumor thrombi.
Bile ; Bile Ducts ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; Hepatectomy ; Humans ; Hypertrophy ; Liver ; Liver Failure ; Liver Neoplasms ; Portal Vein

Although failure of epidermal growth factor receptor tyrosine kinase inhibitors (EGFR TKI) is generally believed to be associated with cross-resistance to other EGFR TKI, the benefit of administering erlotinib as a second EGFR TKI after resistance of gefitinib as the first TKI has been well known. However, good response to gefitinib after an initial response to erlotinib has been rare. We report that a 45-year-old woman (never smoked), with lung adenocarcinoma and EGFR mutation, showed an initial response to erlotinib, and then responded to gefitinib again.
Adenocarcinoma ; Female ; Humans ; Lung ; Lung Neoplasms ; Middle Aged ; Protein-Tyrosine Kinases ; Quinazolines ; Receptor, Epidermal Growth Factor ; Erlotinib Hydrochloride

BACKGROUND: Osteoporosis is a significant comorbidity in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). This study examined the prevalence and risk factors associated with osteoporosis in patients with COPD. METHODS: The bone mineral densities (BMDs) of the lumbar spine and femoral bone were measured in 53 patients with clinically stable COPD and 41 age- and gender-matched control subjects showing a normal lung function. Osteoporosis was defined as a T-score < or =-2.5. The subjects' clinical characteristics and laboratory data were reviewed, and multiple logistic regression analysis was used to identify the risk factors associated with osteoporosis in COPD patients. RESULTS: The prevalence of osteoporosis was 47% and 32% in the COPD patients and controls, respectively. In particular, using the femoral neck T-score, the prevalence of osteoporosis in COPD patients was higher than that in the controls (26% vs. 5%; p=0.006). The average T-score of the lumbar spine (p=0.025) and femoral neck of COPD patients were significantly lower than those of the controls (p=0.001). The forced expiratory volume in the 1 second (FEV1) % predicted (p=0.019; odds ratio [OR], 0.955; 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.919-0.993) and age (p=0.024; OR, 1.144; 95% CI, 1.018-1.287) were independently associated with osteoporosis in patients with COPD. CONCLUSION: Using the femoral neck T-score, the prevalence of osteoporosis in patients with COPD was higher than the age-and gender-matched controls. A lower FEV1 and older age further increase the risk of osteoporosis in patients with COPD.
Bone Density ; Comorbidity ; Femur Neck ; Forced Expiratory Volume ; Humans ; Logistic Models ; Lung ; Odds Ratio ; Osteoporosis ; Prevalence ; Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ; Risk Factors ; Spine

BACKGROUND: Recently, the diagnosis of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) has been made more frequently, as the use of ultrasonography on health screening has been on the rise. The aim of this study was to elucidate the relationship between NAFLD and the metabolic syndrome defined by NCEP-ATP III criteria. METHODS: A total of 1,675 subjects, who attended for routine physical check?ups, were screened. Among those, 401 subjects were selected after excluding the subjects with either significant alcohol consumption, evidence of viral or toxic hepatitis, significant liver or renal dysfunction, or overt thyroid disease. NAFLD was diagnosed if the subjects had a "bright liver" on ultrasonographic examination. The diagnosis of metabolic syndrome was made according to the criteria of NCEP-ATP III established in 2001. RESULTS: The prevalence of NAFLD was 27.2%. Blood pressure, body weight, body mass index, waist circumference, and serum levels of total cholesterol, triglyceride, fasting glucose and liver enzymes were higher among the subjects with NAFLD than the control. The prevalence of obesity, IFG/DM, dyslipidemia and hypertension was higher in the NAFLD group. The prevalence of the metabolic syndrome was 19.2%, which was higher in the NAFLD group than the control group. The odds ratio of NAFLD for the metabolic syndrome was 6.458 (95% C.I. 3.178~13.124). CONCLUSION: NAFLD was closely associated with the metabolic syndrome regardless of the presence of obesity.
Alcohol Drinking ; Blood Pressure ; Body Mass Index ; Body Weight ; Cholesterol ; Diagnosis ; Drug-Induced Liver Injury ; Dyslipidemias ; Fasting ; Fatty Liver* ; Glucose ; Hypertension ; Liver ; Mass Screening ; Obesity ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Thyroid Diseases ; Triglycerides ; Ultrasonography ; Waist Circumference

Background: Triggering receptor expressed on myeloid cells 1 protein (TREM-1) is a cell surface molecule expressed on neutrophils and monocytes, and it plays an important role in myeloid cell-activated inflammatory response. The aim of this study was to investigate the diagnostic efficiency of soluble (s) TREM-1 in the patients who had pleural effusion from various causes. Methods: Forty-five patients with exudative pleural effusion were included in this study. The level of sTREM-1 was measured in both the serum and pleural fluids by immunoblot assay with using human-sTREM-1 antibody. Results: The pleural fluid sTREM-1 was significantly different in the three groups of exudative pleural effusion (p=0.011). Particularly, the patients with parapneumonic effusion were found to have significantly higher pleural fluid levels of sTREM-1 than patients with tuberculous (p<0.05) and malignant effusion, respectively (p<0.05). However, the serum sTREM-1 did not show a significant difference in the three groups. In order to evaluate the diagnostic utility of pleural fluid sTREM-1, the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve was constructed and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.818 (p=0.001). Using a cutoff value of 103.5 pg/mL for the pleural fluid sTREM-1, the sensitivity and specificity were 73% and 81%, respectively, for differentiating parapneumonic effusion from tuberculous or malignant effusions. Conclusion: Pleural fluid sTREM-1 can be an additional marker for making the differential diagnosis of pleural effusion.
Diagnosis, Differential ; Exudates and Transudates ; Humans ; Monocytes ; Myeloid Cells* ; Neutrophils ; Pleural Effusion* ; ROC Curve

BACKGROUND: There were several studies for the incidence of gastroesophageal reflux associated with the laryngeal mask airway(LMA), but the results of those studies were much different much different from one another. The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of gastroesophageal reflux and regurgitation of gastric contents between the LMA and the endotracheal tube(ETT). METHOD: Ninety patients scheduled for elective orthopedic surgery with a standardized general anesthetic technique were randomly allocated to receive either a LMA(n-49) or a ETT(n=41) for airway management. The esophageal manometry was carried out for the exclusion of esophageal motility disorders and the 24-hour ambulatory pH metry was done from one day before the operation. A methylene blue(50mg) capsule was swallowed just before the induction and the simultaneous recordings of pH were maintained during anesthesia. At the end of anesthesia, the episodes of regurgitation of gastric contents above hypopharynx were analyzed by the pharyngeal blue staining and the pH metric data were analyzed for the detection of gastroesophageal relux episodes during anesthesia. RESULTS: There was no significant difference in the incidence of gastroesophageal relux(pH< or =4) between two groups; only two patients in LMA and three patients in ETT had reflux episodes during the removal or arousal phase. There was no episode of the pharyngeal blue staining in both group. All of the gastroesophageal reflux patients in both group developed a cough or straining during those phases. There was no clinical evidence of aspiration of gastric contents in both group. CONCLUSION: In comparison with ETT, use of LMA does not appear to increase the incidence of gastroesophageal reflux and regurgitation above hypophryngeal level in positive pressure ventilating patients during long surgical procedures. Therefore, the risk of aspiration in LMA will not be much more than ETT.
Airway Management ; Anesthesia ; Arousal ; Cough ; Esophageal Motility Disorders ; Gastroesophageal Reflux ; Humans ; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration ; Hypopharynx ; Incidence ; Laryngeal Masks* ; Manometry ; Masks* ; Orthopedics