Background/Aims: Although gastrointestinal endoscopy (GIE) is a major contributor to the carbon footprint of national healthcare, the amount of medical waste generated by GIE procedures is not reported in South Korea. This study aimed to measure the amount of medical waste generated from GIE procedures in South Korea. Methods: We conducted a 5-day audit of medical waste generated during GIEs at seven hospitals. During the study period, medical waste in the endoscopy examination rooms was measured twice daily and documented as mass (kg). To calculate the mean mass of disposable waste generated during one esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and one colonoscopy, the mean mass of medical waste generated from seven examinations was calculated. The mean mass of medical waste generated during GIEs was calculated by dividing the total mass of medical waste generated by the number of GIE procedures. Results: Overall, 3,922 endoscopies were performed and 4,558 kg of waste was generated. The mean weight of medical waste generated per endoscopy was 1.34 kg. Each EGD and colonoscopy generated a mean of 0.24 kg and 0.43 kg of disposable waste, respectively. Applying the mean waste estimates from this study to annual GIE procedures performed in South Korea in 2022 showed that the total medical waste produced from GIE was 13,704,453 kg. In addition, the total masses of medical waste produced during EGD and colonoscopy procedures were 819,766 kg and 2,889,478 kg, respectively. Conclusions Our quantitative measurement showed that a large amount of medical waste is generated from GIE procedures. However, further research is warranted to reduce medical waste generated during GIE, which is an urgent unmet need.

Background/Aims: Although gastrointestinal endoscopy (GIE) is a major contributor to the carbon footprint of national healthcare, the amount of medical waste generated by GIE procedures is not reported in South Korea. This study aimed to measure the amount of medical waste generated from GIE procedures in South Korea. Methods: We conducted a 5-day audit of medical waste generated during GIEs at seven hospitals. During the study period, medical waste in the endoscopy examination rooms was measured twice daily and documented as mass (kg). To calculate the mean mass of disposable waste generated during one esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and one colonoscopy, the mean mass of medical waste generated from seven examinations was calculated. The mean mass of medical waste generated during GIEs was calculated by dividing the total mass of medical waste generated by the number of GIE procedures. Results: Overall, 3,922 endoscopies were performed and 4,558 kg of waste was generated. The mean weight of medical waste generated per endoscopy was 1.34 kg. Each EGD and colonoscopy generated a mean of 0.24 kg and 0.43 kg of disposable waste, respectively. Applying the mean waste estimates from this study to annual GIE procedures performed in South Korea in 2022 showed that the total medical waste produced from GIE was 13,704,453 kg. In addition, the total masses of medical waste produced during EGD and colonoscopy procedures were 819,766 kg and 2,889,478 kg, respectively. Conclusions Our quantitative measurement showed that a large amount of medical waste is generated from GIE procedures. However, further research is warranted to reduce medical waste generated during GIE, which is an urgent unmet need.

Background/Aims: Although gastrointestinal endoscopy (GIE) is a major contributor to the carbon footprint of national healthcare, the amount of medical waste generated by GIE procedures is not reported in South Korea. This study aimed to measure the amount of medical waste generated from GIE procedures in South Korea. Methods: We conducted a 5-day audit of medical waste generated during GIEs at seven hospitals. During the study period, medical waste in the endoscopy examination rooms was measured twice daily and documented as mass (kg). To calculate the mean mass of disposable waste generated during one esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and one colonoscopy, the mean mass of medical waste generated from seven examinations was calculated. The mean mass of medical waste generated during GIEs was calculated by dividing the total mass of medical waste generated by the number of GIE procedures. Results: Overall, 3,922 endoscopies were performed and 4,558 kg of waste was generated. The mean weight of medical waste generated per endoscopy was 1.34 kg. Each EGD and colonoscopy generated a mean of 0.24 kg and 0.43 kg of disposable waste, respectively. Applying the mean waste estimates from this study to annual GIE procedures performed in South Korea in 2022 showed that the total medical waste produced from GIE was 13,704,453 kg. In addition, the total masses of medical waste produced during EGD and colonoscopy procedures were 819,766 kg and 2,889,478 kg, respectively. Conclusions Our quantitative measurement showed that a large amount of medical waste is generated from GIE procedures. However, further research is warranted to reduce medical waste generated during GIE, which is an urgent unmet need.

Background/Aims: Although gastrointestinal endoscopy (GIE) is a major contributor to the carbon footprint of national healthcare, the amount of medical waste generated by GIE procedures is not reported in South Korea. This study aimed to measure the amount of medical waste generated from GIE procedures in South Korea. Methods: We conducted a 5-day audit of medical waste generated during GIEs at seven hospitals. During the study period, medical waste in the endoscopy examination rooms was measured twice daily and documented as mass (kg). To calculate the mean mass of disposable waste generated during one esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and one colonoscopy, the mean mass of medical waste generated from seven examinations was calculated. The mean mass of medical waste generated during GIEs was calculated by dividing the total mass of medical waste generated by the number of GIE procedures. Results: Overall, 3,922 endoscopies were performed and 4,558 kg of waste was generated. The mean weight of medical waste generated per endoscopy was 1.34 kg. Each EGD and colonoscopy generated a mean of 0.24 kg and 0.43 kg of disposable waste, respectively. Applying the mean waste estimates from this study to annual GIE procedures performed in South Korea in 2022 showed that the total medical waste produced from GIE was 13,704,453 kg. In addition, the total masses of medical waste produced during EGD and colonoscopy procedures were 819,766 kg and 2,889,478 kg, respectively. Conclusions Our quantitative measurement showed that a large amount of medical waste is generated from GIE procedures. However, further research is warranted to reduce medical waste generated during GIE, which is an urgent unmet need.

Background: Fresh frozen plasma (FFP) is widely used to correct coagulopathy. However, many transfusions are administered without adherence to guidelines. The clinical utility of pre-transfusion coagulation tests and optimal dosing strategies remains poorly defined in practice. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 181 adult patients who received FFP transfusions at a tertiary hospital from January to December 2023. Indications were selected by clinicians from a predefined checklist. Changes in prothrombin time-international normalized ratio (PT-INR), activated partial thromboplastin time (aPTT), and fibrinogen were analyzed. Multivariate linear regression was used to predict PT-INR correction. Time to post-transfusion testing was also evaluated. Results: Among 518 episodes, 39.6% of transfusions were administered to patients with a PT-INR＜1.7, indicating that the guideline criteria were not met. The median volume was 7.0 mL/kg, with only 16.2% exceeding 10 mL/kg.Pre-transfusion PT-INR was the strongest predictor of correction (β=–1.003, P＜0.001). Greater volumes of transfused FFP led to better correction, especially in individuals with PT-INR ≥3.0. The median time to follow-up testing was 8.5 hours, but showed no significant effect on correction. Conclusion FFP transfusion was most effective in patients with severe PT-INR prolongation. Frequent inappropriate transfusions and subtherapeutic dosing limited its effectiveness. These findings highlight the importance of targeted education and implementation of INR-based indications to improve FFP transfusion practices.

Background: This scoping review examined research on artificial intelligence (AI) published in Korean academic journals in thefields of dental hygiene and dentistry. The Context–Concept–Maturity framework was applied to compare research trends and identify future directions. Methods: Following the Arksey and O’Malley framework, with extensions by Levac et al., the review adhered to Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews guidelines. Domestic academic journals published between January 1, 2020, and September 30, 2025, were searched in KISS, RISS, ScienceON, and DBpia. Studies were screened, extracted, and coded according to population, concept, and context criteria, yielding 70 eligible articles (26 in dental hygiene and 44 in dentistry). Results: In dental hygiene, most research focused on education (38.5%) and community/public oral health (38.5%), while clinicalapplications were limited (7.7%). Major conceptual domains included education/training tools (42.3%), workflow/automation (38.5%), prediction (15.4%), and classification (3.8%). Dentistry studies were predominantly clinically oriented and imagingbased, emphasizing classification, automation, and segmentation. Maturity analysis indicated that dentistry primarily occupied Stage 2 (application; ∼84.1%), whereas dental hygiene showed a dual distribution across Stage 1 (exploration; 46.2%) and Stage 2 (application; 46.2%), with limited Stage 3 (integration; 7.7%) studies. Conclusion AI research in Korea exhibits divergent developmental trajectories. Dental hygiene research emphasizes education,prevention, and public oral health, combining exploratory and applied approaches, while dentistry demonstrates greater clinical integration and application-level maturity. Advancing AI maturity in dental hygiene will require expansion of clinical data–driven studies, incorporation of AI and data literacy into curricula, standardized integration of unstructured and clinical data, multicenter long-term validation, and the development of ethical and performance governance frameworks.

Background: As a multidisciplinary field, dental hygiene has seen the emergence of novel research topics that have reshaped itsscholarly landscape during the pandemic. This study investigated the evolution of research themes and knowledge structures in the Journal of Dental Hygiene Science (JDHS) by comparing the pre-COVID-19 (2015∼2019) and post-COVID-19 (2020∼2024) periods. Methods: A total of 499 articles (319 from 2015∼2019 and 180 from 2020∼2024) published in JDHS were analyzed. Using NetMiner 5.0, meaningful keywords were extracted from titles, abstracts, and author keywords. Term frequency, term frequency-inverse document frequency, degree centrality, and betweenness centrality were examined. Topic modeling was conducted using the Latent Dirichlet Allocation algorithm. Results: During 2015∼2019, “student,” “stress,” “health,” and “tooth” showed high degree centrality, with eight topics identified:education and clinical practice satisfaction, oral health behaviors, job stress, teeth and oral tissues, professional identity, core competencies, preventive research, and factor analysis. In 2020∼2024, “tooth,” “work,” and “surface” demonstrated the highest degree centrality, with five reconfigured topics: dental hygienist competencies, infection control, biofilm and material-related experimental research, and oral health behaviors. Notably, “COVID-19,” “infection,” “control,” and “hand hygiene” emerged as an independent topic cluster. Across both periods, “health” and “dental hygienist” maintained high betweenness centrality, serving as bridging concepts across research domains. Conclusion Over the past decade, JDHS research has shifted from an education- and psychology-oriented focus to clinical andexperimental studies, with infection control emerging as an independent research theme after COVID-19. However, internationally prominent topics such as teledentistry and digital dentistry remain underrepresented, suggesting the need for expanded research in these emerging areas. This study provides quantitative evidence of structural changes in Korean dental hygiene research, offering insights to guide future research directions and journal development strategies.

Purpose: We aimed to evaluate the usefulness and safety of high-flow nasal cannula (HFNC) oxygen therapy in children with complex chronic diseases (CCD) with impending respiratory failure in the general ward. Methods: Medical records of subjects with HFNC oxygen use in the general ward at a Korean tertiary children’s hospital were reviewed. Children with CCD and impending respiratory failure were included. treatment success was defined as successful weaning from HFNC oxygen support and treatment failure as weaning failure that led to higher level of respiratory support such as invasive ventilation or noninvasive positive pressure ventilation. Results: Fifty cases were included. Thirty-five cases (70%) were weaned off HFNC oxygen successfully, 15 cases (30%) failed. At the time of HFNC oxygen administration, the treatment failure group showed higher heart rate (P = 0.043), carbon dioxide partial pressure (P = 0.002), and initial inspired oxygen fraction (P = 0.007). Within 72 hours of initial treatment, 20% of patients in the treatmentsuccess group were weaned off the HFNC oxygen and half in the treatment-failure group required invasive ventilation. One case experienced complication. Conclusion HFNC oxygen is safe and effective for respiratory support in the general ward to avoid invasive mechanical ventilation in children with CCD and impending respiratory failure.