Rib Fixation for a Patient with Severely Displaced and Overlapped Costal Cartilage Fractures

Rib fixations for flail chest or displaced rib fractures are not a new technique. However, reports on rib fixations involving costal cartilage fractures are very few and surprisingly there are no reports of internal fixations involving only the costal cartilage in the English literature. The diagnosis is difficult and the necessity of the procedure may be quite controversial. Placing plates in screws into the costal cartilage alone may seem unstable and easily dislodged or stripped through the cartilage. We report a 31-year-old male scuba diver instructor who underwent rib fixations over his 7th and 8th costal cartilage ribs for severe pain. The procedure was done with conventional plates and screws. He had the plates and screws removed 2 months later due to lingering pain, but with them removed he is now quite happy with the results without pain. The procedure for fixation of painful overlapped costal cartilage is quite simple and can be done with the usual conventional methods, fixating plate and screws directly over the cartilage alone without fixation over the bony rib.

Esophageal Rupture Due to Diving in Shallow Waters

Delayed esophageal rupture due to blunt injury is not new. However, rupture due to suspected barotrauma is very rare. We describe a case of esophageal rupture in a male 24-year-old patient after diving in shallow waters. The patient was quadriplegic and could not experience the typical chest pain related to rupture and resulting mediastinitis. The rupture was discovered 4 days after emergency decompressive laminectomy and fusion for his cervical spine. The rupture was evidently caused by barotrauma and was discovered four days after admission. He underwent primary closure and pericardial flap as a life-saving procedure.

Perforation of Surgical Gloves during Lower Extremity Fracture Surgery and Hip Joint Replacement Surgery / 대한고관절학회지

PURPOSE: To assess the frequencies and sites of surgical glove perforations in lower extremity fracture surgery and hip joint replacement (HJR) surgery. Additionally, we also studied the usefulness of an indicator system glove. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We assessed surgical glove perforations in 30 cases of lower extremity fracture surgery and 18 cases of HJR surgery conducted by one right handed 1st operator from April 2013 to July 2013. We assessed frequencies and sites of perforation in 152 gloves; 95 used in lower extremity fracture surgery and 57 used in HJR surgery. We studied the perforation rates and sites according to participants and operation types. Using the Biogel indicator system glove, which is well known as a fast indicator of glove perforation, we were also able to assess the time difference between operative participant detection of perforation and inspector nurse detection while observing in the operative field. RESULTS: There were 18 of 30 cases in lower extremity fracture surgeries and 12 of 18 cases in HJR surgeries which had more than one surgical glove perforation event. Of all 152 gloves used, perforation occurred in 15 of 57 gloves (26.3%) in HJR surgery and 23 of 95 gloves (24.2%) in lower extremity fracture surgery. Perforation occurred more frequently in operators than assistant doctors or scrub nurses. The most frequent perforation site was the second digit of the left hand. On average, the time difference between operative participant notice of perforation and inspector nurse notice of perforation was 20.6 seconds. CONCLUSION: The perforation of surgical gloves happened in approximately one out of every four persons. Importantly, we noted a 37.0% prevalence of glove perforation in 1st operators. Considering that glove perforation is a critical factor responsible for intra-operative infection, surgeons must be conscious of the risk of surgical glove perforation and use double gloving regularly. Furthermore, indicator double gloving is recommended for fast detection of outer glove perforation.

Conservative Treatment of Lumbar Disc Herniation: A Prospective Study of Disc Herniation Encroaching More than One-third of Spinal Canal

STUDY DESIGN: Prospective study. OBJECTIVES: To investigate the clinical results of conservative treatment for mid-to-large lumbar disc herniation diagnosed via magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and the factors influencing treatment. SUMMARY OF LITERATURE REVIEW: There is limited information regarding the clinical results of conservative treatment for lumbar disc herniation. The recent studies using MRI have suggested favorable treatment results. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study subjects were 39 cases of herniated disc patients with over a 1/3 spinal canal encroachment -- based on MRI -- that were followed up for at least 1 year. The average age was 42.6-years-old (range of 12-76 years-old), and the average follow-up period was 28 months. The neurological deficit and the visual analogue scale (VAS) of back pain and radiating pain at the time of initial diagnoses and final follow-ups were compared, and the clinical results were evaluated based Kim & Kim's criteria. RESULTS: Although 4 of the 39 patients needed to undergo surgery during the follow-up period, 33 of the remaining 35 patients showed satisfactory (excellent and good ratings) results: 27 excellent, 6 good, 2 fair, i.e., a 85% (33 out of 39) satisfactory results. Of the 14 cases that had neurological defect at the initial diagnosis, only 1 case needed surgery, thereby resulting in a 93% (13 out of 14) satisfactory result. There were no statistically significant correlations among the degree of spinal canal encroachment and other factors such as age, sex, herniation type, and neurological deficit at initial diagnosis, and the clinical results at the final follow-up, conversion to surgery during follow-up, and remaining pains. CONCLUSIONS: The clinical results of conservative treatment in lumbar disc herniation were satisfactory even in cases of high degree of spinal canal encroachment. Therefore, conservative treatment of lumbar disc herniation should be considered first before resorting to surgical treatment.

Differences in Maternal Hair Heavy Metal and Mineral Levels between Preterm Delivery and Full-term Delivery / 대한주산의학회잡지

OBJECTIVES: Previous studies on the effects of heavy metal exposure on adverse birth outcomes are still inconsistent. Heavy metal exposure would be related to decreased birth weight and a shortened gestational age. The aim of this work was to investigate maternal hair heavy metal concentrations in relation to gestational age at delivery. METHODS: A total of 52 maternal hair samples were collected at the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Gil hospital, Korea. Delivery before 37 weeks of gestation was defined as preterm and delivery after 37 weeks of gestation was defined as full-term delivery. We gathered the specimens from maternal hair approaching delivery. 23 samples were taken from preterm delivered mothers and 29 samples from full term delivered mothers. We evaluated maternal specimen by hair tissue mineral analysis to measure heavy metal concentrations accumulated for more than several months. All statistical analyses were performed with Chi-square test, Mann-Whitney U test and Wilcoxon W test. RESULTS: Heavy metal was revealed in pregnant women's hair but there was not a significant correlation between levels of heavy metal and gestational age at delivery. Compared numbers of preterm delivery and full-term delivery by stratified by heavy metal concentrations did not have significant correlation. CONCLUSIONS: This study does not show any strong relationship between delivery outcome and heavy metal measured by hair tissue mineral analysis. Further prospective studies with serial measures of cord blood heavy metal level and hair its levels may be required.

Comparison of birth-weight between diabetic and non-diabetic pregnant women based on gestational weeks / 대한산부인과학회지

OBJECTIVE: The risk of macrosomia in diabetic complicated pregnancy is increased perinatal morbidity. But it is difficult to predict adverse outcomes after birth with conventional diagnostic tools of diabetes in pregnant women. We evaluated the birth-weight between diabetic and non-diabetic pregnant women based on gestational weeks to determine adverse pregnancy outcome. METHODS: We selected 166 diabetic complicated pregnant women delivered between January 2005 and December 2008 and 248 non-diabetic pregnant women at same period. We compared the birth-weight between two groups in relation to the gestational age below and over 37 weeks. Fetal anomalies, fetal death, and multifetal pregnancy were excluded in this study. And we also evaluated the incidence of baby who had birth-weight 3.8 kg or more and their neonatal outcomes between two groups. RESULTS: There were 4.9% (166/3404) of diabetic complicated pregnancies. The preterm births (birth before 37 weeks of gestation) were occurred 32.5% (54/166) and term births (birth after 37 weeks of gestation) were 67.5% (112/166). The mean birth-weight in preterm birth showed 2,492 g of gestational diabetes, 3,315 g of pregestational diabetes and 2,118 g of control group (P=0.001). The mean birth-weight and gestational age at delivery in term birth showed pregestational diabetes and gestational diabetes were heavier and shorter than those of control group (P=0.002). The incidence of 3.8 kg or more of birth-weighted baby appeared 43.5% (10/23) of pregestional diabetes, 16.8% (24/143) of gestational diabetes and 8.5% (21/248) of control group (P=0.000). The Apgar score less than 7 at minutes of neonate were more frequent in pregestational and gestational diabetes than that of control group (P=0.013). CONCLUSION: It is important to classify the type of diabetes during pregnancy and there should be needed to predict adverse pregnancy outcomes including macrosomia.

Conservative and Arthroscopic Treatment of Calcific Tendinitis

PURPOSE: We evaluated calcium resolution and clinical improvement of calcific tendinitis after conservative and arthroscopic treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We reviewed 126 patients of calcific tendinitis treated from January,2002 to April, 2005. Average age was 53 and female dominant in 77% of the cases. Calcium deposits were involved in supraspinatus tendon in 84% of the cases. We compared clinical changes for 64 cases treated with injection, and 12 cases treated by arthroscopic decompression with 6 month follow-up. RESULTS: 77%(49/64)of the cases with steroid injection showed symptom improvement. Even though complete resolution of calcific deposit occurred in 36%(23/64), incomplete resolution in 17%(11/64) and no change in 47%(30/64), Pain was relieved in 87%(20/23), 82%(9/11) and 67%(20/30), respectively. With arthroscopic treatment, calcium deposit completely resolved in 83%(10/12), and all cases showed pain free motion after 6 months. CONCLUSION: Conservative treatment with steroid injection was effective for acute pain in resorptive phase. In cases of arthroscopic treatment, there was no need for complete removal of calcium deposit during the procedure, but clinical symptoms improved with resolution of the deposit.

Fibrous Histiocytoma in the Knee Joint : Report of 1 Case

Benign fibrous histiocytoma (also called giant cell tumor of tendon sheath) is well known but uncommon benign lesion usually occurring in hand and feet of middle age. We present a case of huge fibrous histiocytoma of the knee joint in a 41 years old woman. The patient have a sign of slight extension limitation and a swelling on the lateral side of the knee joint. The oval shape lesion was originating from the anterior joint capsule of the knee and protruding into the femoral intercondylar notch and lateral compartment. The mass was removed through mini-arthrotomy. Histologic study revealed a fibrohistiocytic tumor, composed of spindle cell, giant cell and foamy histiocyte.

The Reliability of Proximal Femoral Shaft Fracture Classification

PURPOSE: The Garden classification by which femur neck fracture is classified and the Boyd-Griffin classification by which trochanteric fracture is classified are studied on the reproducibility, repeatability, interobserver's and intraobserver's reliability and then reliability. MATERIALS AND METHODS: 56 cases in femoral neck fracture and 60 cases in trochanteric fracture who were operated from May 1999 to December 2003 were classified by three observers who are hip surgeon, orthopaedic surgeon and senior residentship doctors three times. Femur neck fracture was classified by Garden's method which used commonly and trochanteric fracture was classified by Boyd-Griffin method which is classified by the pattern of fracture and degree of comminution. We got the interobserver's and intraobserver's Kappa score using the Stata 7.0 statistically. The statistical analysis was made by Stata 7.0. RESULTS: Garden classification in femur neck fracture showed moderate agreement in intraobserver reliability and fair agreement in interobserver reliability. Boyd-Griffin classification in trochanteric fracture showed substantial agreement in intraobserver reliability and moderate agreement in interobserver reliability. CONCLUSION: Boyd-Griffin classification showed over moderate agreement but Garden classification showed fair agreement, so using Garden classification in femur neck fracture has some problem in reliability and application.

A Case of Large Placental Chorioangioma Combined with Polyhydramnios / 대한산부인과학회잡지

No abstract available.