A retrospective review was performed of 297 patients admitted to Chung Ang Gil Hospital between June 1995 and December 1996 with a diagnosis of blunt chest trauma. Of these patients, 34% suffered either immediate or delayed complications. Immediate complications included hemothorax in 58.8%, pneumothorax in 26.5%, and pulmonary contusion in 20.5%. Delayed complications occurred in 9.1% of patients overall; these included pulmonary contusion in 12.7%, pneumonia in 9.8%, pulmonary embolism in 2%, poeumothorax in 2%, and hemothorax in 2%. The mean age of the patients were 43 years. 210 patients(70.7%) were under age 50 and 87(29.3%) were 50 years of age or older. Male to female ratio was 1.9:1. Mean Initial Revised Trauma Score (RTS) and the Injury Severity Score (ISS) were 7.10+/-0.94 and 14+/-8.69, respectively. There were associated injuries in 225(75.8%) patients. Overall mortality rate was 7.1% and the mortality rate was significantly greater in patients with a RTS<6, ISS>or=16, associated injuries, advanced age(50 years of age or older), and pulmonary complications. Pulmonary complications were significantly greater in patients with a RTS<6, ISS>or=16, and an associated injuries.
Contusions ; Diagnosis ; Female ; Hemothorax ; Humans ; Injury Severity Score ; Male ; Mortality* ; Pneumonia ; Pneumothorax ; Pulmonary Embolism ; Retrospective Studies ; Thorax*

Although a lot of articles examining concomitant intrauterine and ectopic pregnancy have been presented, we have not found any reports on ectopic implantation of chorionic villi in the vagina with normal intrauterine pregnancy. We experienced a case of chorionic villi on the vaginal wall as a hemorrhagic mass during the second trimester of pregnancy. A pregnant woman (gestational age of 16 weeks and 1 day) visited our hospital due to vaginal bleeding. There was no abnormal finding except vaginal hemorrhagic mass, and the mass revealed a product of conception.
Chorion* ; Chorionic Villi* ; Female ; Fertilization ; Humans ; Pregnancy ; Pregnancy Trimester, Second* ; Pregnancy* ; Pregnancy, Ectopic ; Pregnant Women ; Uterine Hemorrhage ; Vagina

The back pain is increasingly becoming a major problem in the elderly people. The cause of back pain in the elderly patient is quite different from in the young subject. And relationship of the occurrence of osteoporosis with the incidence of fractures in general is currently regarded as a major factor. The authors performed clinical observation on 194 elderly patients who were treated for back pain during 5 years period from April, 1983 to April, 1988 at the Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Severance Hospital and relationship between osteoporosis and compression fracture of spine was reviewed. The results were as follows : l. Among the 194 cases of back pain(28.3% of total admission cases), whose age were over 50: 142 cases were female and 52 cases were male, being more common in female. 2. Most common cause of back pain was the compression fracture of spine : 86 cases(44.3 %). Osteoporosis was associated with 66 cases(76.7%) out of 86 cases. 3. The number of compression fracture in same patient was more frequent in osteoporotic patient and thoracolumber junction (T12, Ll) was the major site of fracture (45.6%). Compression fracture of spine caused by osteoporosis occured at multiple level in 60.6%. 4. Twenty three cases(34.8%) of compression fracture of spine with osteoporosis were found to have previous history of fractures of spine and/or extremities by radiological examination. Regarding this results, compression fractures of spine was not infrequent cause of back pain in the elderly. It was thought that re-fracture of spine should be prevented by vigorous approach against osteoporosis along with the treatment of presenting fracture in these patients.
Aged ; Back Pain ; Clinical Study ; Extremities ; Female ; Fractures, Compression ; Humans ; Incidence ; Male ; Osteoporosis ; Spine

Since 1952, Ilizarov external fixator has been developed and used for more than 30 years in Russia and world-wide interest on it has been prevalent during last 2-3 years. The fixation of the tension applied thin wires to the metal frame resist flexional and translational deformity just like other extenal fixators. But, it allows cyclic axial micro-motion at the fracture site without loss of reduction so that it can provide good environment for the fracture healing biologically and biomechanically. Another advantage of Ilizarov external fixator is that it permits mobilization of the adjacent joints and weight bearing of the fractured limb during the application of it and shortens the duration of administration. Since 1988, We applied the Ilizarov external fixator for the treatment of diffcult tibial fractures (open comminuted, segmented and comminuted fractures, nonunion, maunion) and obtained good results in 7 cases. So we report our results even if we had limited cases and experiences.
Congenital Abnormalities ; External Fixators ; Extremities ; Fracture Healing ; Fractures, Comminuted ; Joints ; Russia ; Tibia ; Tibial Fractures ; Weight-Bearing

BACKGROUND: Local anesthetics have been shown to interact with neuromuscular blockers. Most local anesthetics decrease neuromuscular transmission and potentiate neuromuscular block from muscle relaxants. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of lidocaine on the onset time of vecuronium and to compare that with other method such as simply increasing the dose of vecuronium. METHODS: Sixty patients of ASA physical status I or II were induced with thiopental (4-5 mg/kg) and maintained with O2-enflurane (2.5 vol%). They were randomly divided into four groups: Vecuronium (0.1 mg/kg) was administered intravenously in Group C (n = 15), additional lidocaine (1 mg/kg) was given intravenously 1 min prior to administration of vecuronium in Group L (n = 15), increased vecuronium (0.15 mg/kg) was given in Group V (n = 15) and succinylcholine was given in Group S (n = 15), respectively. Neuromuscular blockade was assessed by train-of-four (TOF) at the adductor pollicis muscle with supramaximal stimulation of ulnar nerve (2 Hz, 0.2 ms) every 12 sec. Endotracheal intubation was performed and intubating conditions were evaluated according to the standard scoring method after measuring the onset time (from the end of giving each muscle relaxants to the 90% suppression of the first twitch). RESULTS: The onset time of Group L (122.0+/-11.0 sec) and that of Group V (98.0+/-16.9 sec) were shorter than that of Group C (135.2+/-16.0 sec) (P<0.05), but these were not shorter than that of Group S (42.0+/-6.2 sec). There was no statistical difference between Group L and Group V. Intubating conditions were good or excellent in all groups. CONCLUSIONS: Additional lidocaine for attenuating sympathetic response could accelerate the onset of vecuronium. But the onset time of this method was not shorter than that of simply increasing the dose of vecuroium nor that of succinylcholine.
Anesthetics, Local ; Humans ; Intubation, Intratracheal ; Lidocaine* ; Neuromuscular Blockade ; Neuromuscular Blocking Agents ; Research Design ; Succinylcholine ; Thiopental ; Ulnar Nerve ; Vecuronium Bromide*

No abstract available.
Humans ; Peritoneal Dialysis, Continuous Ambulatory* ; Peritonitis*

The main trend moves towards early excision and skin grafting as treatment for the deep second degree burns and the third degree burns. The ability to excision & skin grafting. This study prospectively evaluated the ability of laser doppler flow measurements obtained within 72 hours after burn injury to predict the depth of burn wounds. A Periflux system 4001 laser doppler flowmetry had been used to measure cutaneous microflow circulation of 100 selected points of burn wounds in 44 admitted patients from March 1993 to February 1994. The mean value of superficial second degree burn checked by laser doppler was 194.6 perfusion unit(PU). The deep second degree burn was 59.7 PU and third degree burn was 5.1 PU. The blood flow of more than 100 PU reliably predicted the superficial second degree burn with 90.2 percents accuracy. The blood flow between 100 PU and 10 PU predict the deep second degree dermal burn with 96.2 percents accuracy. That of less than 10 PU predict the third degree burn with 100 percents accuracy. There was also a significant correlation between initial flow measurements and the depth of burn wounds. We conclude that laser doppler flow measurements performed early after burn injury are useful in predicting the depth of burn wounds. The laser doppler flowmetry has the advantage of being easy to use, noninvasive, provide immediate result for early determination of burn depth. The laser doppler flowmetry is useful in selecting patients for early excision and grafting of burn wounds.
Burns* ; Humans ; Laser-Doppler Flowmetry* ; Perfusion ; Prospective Studies ; Skin Transplantation ; Transplants ; Wounds and Injuries

We developed the 166Ho-chitosan, the new radiation synovectomy agent. Holmium is the more practical isotope based on its longer half-life. And chitosan, is ideal and suitable particles based on its soluble and biodegradable characteristics. We investigated the biocompatibility of the 166Ho-chitosan complex to evaluate the suitability as a radiation synovectomy agent. In vitro stability test, the 166Ho-chitosan complex suspension in saline was stored at room temperture and 37degrees C for 25 days and decay rate was of determined by ITLC(Instant Thin Layer Chromatography). In vivo stability test, the 166Ho-chitosan complex was injected into rabbit joints and followed by gamma camera imaging to quantify extra-articular leakage. Biodistribution study, the 166Ho-chitosan complex was injected into rabbit joints. After 48 hours heart, liver, urinary bladder, spleen, lung, brain, kidney, blood were extracted and radioactivities were measured. In vitro stability test, there was no significant change of radioactivity and no leakage problem indicating the prepared 166Ho-chitosan complex is sufficiently stable. In vivo stability tests revealed that more than 98% of the 166Ho-chitosan remained in joint over a 2 days period. The mean retention percentage of 166Ho-chitosan in knee were 99.9%, 99.9%, 99.8%, 99.7% at 2 h, 6 h, 1 day and 2 days, respectively. A biodistribution study of the rabbits revealed that leakage to heart, liver, urinary bladder, spleen, lung, brain, kidney, blood is 0.71, 1.5, 0.50, 1.5, 0.25, 0.26, 0.81, 0.065(% Injected Dose x 10-3/gram), respectively. The 166Ho-chitosan complex shows less leakge than any other radiation synovectomy agents. Our results indicate that 166Ho-chitosan have the biocompatibility and the suitability as a radiation synovectomy agent.
Brain ; Chitosan* ; Half-Life ; Heart ; Holmium ; Joints ; Kidney ; Knee ; Liver ; Lung ; Rabbits* ; Radioactivity ; Radionuclide Imaging ; Spleen ; Urinary Bladder

The incidence of heterotopic ossification (HO) was reported to be higher in combat-injured patients than in civilian trauma patients. HO is often considered a possible cause of residual limbs pain in amputee. Here, we report the case of a 21-year-old male, who underwent a traumatic right transfemoral and left transtibial amputation with two segments of painful HO around his left amputation site. We report the effect of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) on size and pain associated with HO. After ESWT, the visual analog scale score decreased from 5∼6 to 0∼1 and the size of two masses decreased from 13.1 × 6.7 mm and 12.5 mm to 11.9 × 4.7 mm and 12.2 mm, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case that has reported on the treatment of HO using ESWT for a traumatic transtibial amputation patient. The case suggests that ESWT could serve as a complementary treatment for HO in traumatic amputation patient.

The incidence of heterotopic ossification (HO) was reported to be higher in combat-injured patients than in civilian trauma patients. HO is often considered a possible cause of residual limbs pain in amputee. Here, we report the case of a 21-year-old male, who underwent a traumatic right transfemoral and left transtibial amputation with two segments of painful HO around his left amputation site. We report the effect of extracorporeal shock wave therapy (ESWT) on size and pain associated with HO. After ESWT, the visual analog scale score decreased from 5∼6 to 0∼1 and the size of two masses decreased from 13.1 × 6.7 mm and 12.5 mm to 11.9 × 4.7 mm and 12.2 mm, respectively. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first case that has reported on the treatment of HO using ESWT for a traumatic transtibial amputation patient. The case suggests that ESWT could serve as a complementary treatment for HO in traumatic amputation patient.