To date, family medicine and internal medicine fields have been responsible for defining, researching, and development of treatments for sarcopenia, focusing mainly on diabetes and metabolic diseases. Therefore, application of current guidelines for diagnosis of sarcopenia which differ according to continent to patients with hip fractures in the orthopedic field is difficult. The purpose of this review was to understand the recent consensus on the definition and diagnosis of sarcopenia and to highlight the importance of research and future research opportunities on the management of sarcopenia in patients with hip fractures by orthopedic surgeons. The global prevalence of sarcopenia in patients with hip fractures is statistically significant. Despite establishment of various therapeutic and diagnostic criteria for osteoporosis in the clinical field, there are no clear, useful diagnostic criteria for sarcopenia in the clinical field. In particular, few studies on the evaluation and treatment of sarcopenia in patients with hip fractures have been reported. In addition, the quality of life of postoperative patients with hip fractures could be significantly improved by development of precise assessment for muscle regeneration and rehabilitation in the operating room.

An air blow gun is one of the most common pneumatic tools found at industrial sites and entrances of mountain trails in South Korea. It is used for spraying high-pressure air to dust off surfaces and clothes, and to inject air into tubes. There have been many reported cases of injuries and deaths associated with air blow guns. The victim died by placing the nozzle of an air blow gun, installed on an outdoor sports field, into her nose, and pulling the trigger. An autopsy ascribed her death to pneumothorax. Numerous accidents associated with air blow guns have been reported in the media. However, the use of an air blow gun has not been the subject of a suicide case study in forensic literature. To our knowledge, this is the first case report on suicide using an air blow gun. Stronger public safety warnings stressing the potentially fatal outcomes from careless usage of air blow guns are required.

Dental implants have become a popular and rapidly advancing technique to replace missing teeth. They have increasingly been used in the past few decades and have been associated with an increasing number of complications. There may be mechanical side effects, such as implant fracture while chewing, but side effects related to general procedures, such as bleeding and inflammation, may occur. Here, we report an autopsy case of death from pulmonary abscess and pneumonia due to septic emboli from gingival inflammation and sinusitis associated with dental implant surgery.

In autopsy practice, we encounter case of suicide or murder using various methods or tools. Damage caused by tools such as a knife or hammer is commonly encountered, but a case of damage using a chainsaw is not commonly encountered. We present an autopsy case of a suicide due to neck injury using a chainsaw. A 56-year-old man was found dead with a neck injury and a chainsaw below him. Soft tissue of the neck, thyroid cartilage, trachea, carotid vessels, cervical vertebrae, and cervical spinal cord were found to be cleaved, and a cogwheel-shaped pattern was observed in the injured area.

In autopsy practice, we encounter case of suicide or murder using various methods or tools. Damage caused by tools such as a knife or hammer is commonly encountered, but a case of damage using a chainsaw is not commonly encountered. We present an autopsy case of a suicide due to neck injury using a chainsaw. A 56-year-old man was found dead with a neck injury and a chainsaw below him. Soft tissue of the neck, thyroid cartilage, trachea, carotid vessels, cervical vertebrae, and cervical spinal cord were found to be cleaved, and a cogwheel-shaped pattern was observed in the injured area.

In autopsy practice, we encounter case of suicide or murder using various methods or tools. Damage caused by tools such as a knife or hammer is commonly encountered, but a case of damage using a chainsaw is not commonly encountered. We present an autopsy case of a suicide due to neck injury using a chainsaw. A 56-year-old man was found dead with a neck injury and a chainsaw below him. Soft tissue of the neck, thyroid cartilage, trachea, carotid vessels, cervical vertebrae, and cervical spinal cord were found to be cleaved, and a cogwheel-shaped pattern was observed in the injured area.

Background: This study compared the effects of hip fractures on mortality according to sex and age in a nationwide cohort of elderly patients with hip fractures and controls. Methods: Patients with hip fractures and matched controls were selected from the National Health Insurance Service-Senior cohort. Time-dependent propensity score matching was estimated from a Cox proportional hazards model with January 1, 2005, as the baseline and hip fracture as an event. Patients were matched by age and sex to participants at risk of developing a hip fracture at time zero. The effect size is presented as hazard ratio (HR) using a Cox proportional hazards model with a robust variance estimator that accounts for clustering within the matched pairs. Results: Altogether, 14,283 patients with incident hip fractures and 28,566 matched controls were identified. The HR of male sex in hip fractures was 1.31 (95% confidence interval [CI], 1.22−1.40; Pinteraction<0.01). Moreover, the HR of age group in hip fractures was 0.73 (95% CI, 0.66−0.80; Pinteraction<0.01) between the 65 to 74 and 75 to 84 years groups, 0.76 (95% CI, 0.71−0.81; Pinteraction<0.01) between the 75 to 84 and ≥85 years groups, and 0.55 (95% CI, 0.50−0.61; Pinteraction<0.01) between the 65 to 74 and ≥85 years groups. Conclusions Male sex increases the risk of death in elderly patients with hip fractures versus matched controls, but the increased risk of death with age in hip fractures was decreased compared to that in matched controls.

Purpose: Advanced energy devices, including electrosurgical bipolar systems or ultrasonic shears, are widely used in various surgeries. An electrosurgical bipolar device allows surgeons to grasp and dissect tissues, as well as simultaneously ligate and cut vessels and lymphatics during surgery. This study aimed to evaluate the effects of advanced bipolar energy devices on the reduction in seroma formation during mastectomy, axillary staging, and/or reconstruction. Methods: This prospective randomized clinical trial with a 1:1 ratio compared the use of an electrosurgical bipolar device, LigaSureTM (LGS), against conventional cut-and-ligate techniques in mastectomy with axillary procedures for patients with breast cancer. A total of 82 patients with breast cancer who underwent definitive surgery were enrolled in this study. The primary endpoint was the total drainage volume after surgery. Results: The clinicopathological characteristics of the two groups were not significantly different. The total postoperative drainage volume was significantly lower in the LGS group than in the control group (756.26 mL vs. 1,167.74 mL, p = 0.009). The actual postoperative drainage volume and duration also decreased significantly in the LGS group compared with those in the control group (all p < 0.05). The rate of postoperative complications was lower in the LGS group than in the control group (9.8% vs. 27.5%, p = 0.05). Conclusion Electrosurgical bipolar devices showed better performance in terms of decreasing postoperative drainage during mastectomy and axillary staging and/or reconstruction.

Because of the increasing global trend of patients with mental disorders, orthopedic surgeons are more likely to encounter orthopedic patients with mental disorders in clinical settings. Identifying the characteristics of these patients and implementing psychiatric management can affect the clinical outcome of orthopedic treatment. Thus, orthopedic surgeons need to assess the psychiatric medical history of orthopedic patients with mental disorders before surgery and understand the psychological and behavioral patterns of patients with mental disorders. In addition, appropriate psychiatric consultations and evaluations are necessary to prevent worsening of mental disorders before and after surgery.

Purpose: This study examined the bony morphological changes to analyze the factors affecting bony union in the treatment of elderly femoral shaft fractures with varus bowing using piriformis fossa insertion intramedullary nailing. Materials and Methods: This study included 26 patients over 60 years of age, who were admitted for femoral shaft fractures between January 2005 and December 2014 and treated with piriformis fossa insertion intramedullary nailing. Age, sex, height, weight, bone mineral density, injury mechanism, fracture type, diameter and length of the nail, postoperative lengthening of the femur, postoperative change in varus angle, contact between the lateral and anterior cortex, and the gap between the fracture line and the bony union were checked. The patients were divided into a varus group and nonvarus group, as well as a bone union group and nonunion group. Logistic regression analysis was performed to analyze the factors affecting nonunion. Results: The patients were classified into 11 in the varus group and 15 in the non-varus group and 24 in the union group and 2 in the nonunion group. The varus group showed a larger increase in leg length and varus angle reduction than the non-varus group (p<0.05). The union group had more contact with the lateral cortical bone than that of the nonunion group (p<0.05). The factor affecting bone union in regression analysis was contact of the lateral cortical bone (p<0.05). Conclusion Treatment of a femoral shaft fracture in elderly patients with a varus deformity of the femur using piriformis fossa insertion intramedullary nail increases the length of the femur and decreases the varus deformity. For bony union, the most important thing during surgery is contact of the lateral cortical bone with the fracture site.