Humerus Shaft Fractures in Leisure Sport 'Flyfish Riding': 4 Cases Report

A fracture of the humeral shaft can occur by direct or indirect injury. Most occur as a result of direct injury mechanisms such as falls from a height, direct blows, and traffic accidents. Recently, the population enjoying watersports for leisure is increasing and 'flyfish riding', in which passengers ride an inflatable raft drawn by a motorboat, may cause humeral shaft fracture as twisting and axial compression forces occur on the humeral shaft while boarding. Accordingly, the incidence of humeral shaft fracture is expected to increase as more people are expected to enjoy leisure sport activities such as 'flyfish riding'. We report 4 cases of humeral fracture that occurred during this activity in the year 2011.

Survey of Helicobacter infection in domestic and feral cats in Korea

Discovery of Helicobacter (H.) pylori has led to a fundamental change in our understanding of gastric diseases in humans. Previous studies have found various Helicobacter spp. in dogs and cats, and pets have been questioned as a zoonotic carrier. The present study surveyed the Helicobacter infections and investigated the presence of H. felis and H. pylori infections in domestic and feral cats in Korea. Sixty-four domestic cats and 101 feral cats were selected from an animal shelter. Saliva and feces were evaluated by Helicobacter genus-specific polymerase chain reaction (PCR). Genus-specific PCR positive samples were further evaluated for H. felis and H. pylori using specific primer pairs. Thirty-six of 64 (56.3%) samples from domestic cats and 92 of 101 (91.1%) samples from feral cats were PCR positive; the positive rate of feces samples was higher than that of saliva samples in both groups. H. felis and H. pylori species-specific PCR was uniformly negative. The prevalence of Helicobacter spp. in feral cats was approximately two-fold higher than that of domestic cats. The fecal-oral route may be more a common transmission route not only between cats but also in humans.

Incidence of Lateral Retinacular Release in Total Knee Arthroplasty

PURPOSE: To assess the incidence of lateral retinacular release (LRR), performed to improve patellar tracking in total knee arthroplasty according to tourniquet effect and design of femoral components. MATERIALS AND METHODS: From March 1999 to March 2004, we have evaluated the patellar tracking status based on "no thumb technique" with or without tourniquet inflation and calculated the frequency of LRR respectively in order to assess the tourniquet effect. In addition, we have examined the difference in the frequency of LRR according to the femoral component designs. RESULTS: Among 286 total knee arthroplasties, LRR was need in 241 cases (84.3%) under the inflated tourniquet, but only in 81 cases (28.3%) under deflated tourniquet. In Genesis II prosthesis, LRR was needed in 3 cases (9.7%) among the 31 cases after deflating tourniquet, but in 25 cases (80.6%) with inflating tourniquet. In Scorpio prosthesis, LRR was needed in 52cases (33.8%) among 154 cases after deflating tourniquet, but in 124 cases (80.5%) with inflating tourniquet. In the other prostheses, LRR was needed in 92 cases (91.1%) among 101 cases with inflating tourniquet inflation, but only in 26 cases (25.7%) after deflating tourniquet. CONCLUSION: The tourniquet application altered intraoperative patellofemoral tracking during total knee arthroplasty. The need for LRR should be evaluated after tourniquet deflation and the incidence of LRR is expected to reduce by 56% with this criteria. The frequency of LRR also could be influenced by femoral component designs.

Comparison of Therapeutic Effect between Continuous Epidural Injection with Catheter and Intermittent Epidural Injection without Catheter in Patients with Low Back Pain

OBJECTIVE: This study is designed to compare the therapeutic effect of continuous epidural injection with catheter and intermittent epidural injection without catheter in the patients with low back pain. METHOD: One hundred and nine patients with low back pain were randomly divided into two groups. First group (49 patients) were treated with two or three times of intermittent epidural injections with steroid mixed with local anesthetics. Second group (60 patients) were treated with continuous steroid mixed with local anesthetics injection through epidural catheter. The effect of the epidural injections was assessed by visual analog scale (VAS) at pre-injection and post- injection. RESULTS: Pre- and post-injection VAS scores of the first group were 6.5+/-1.2 and 3.5+/-1.5, respectively. Pre- and post-injection VAS scores of the second group were 6.2+/-1.6 and 2.3+/-1.1, respectively. VAS score changes between pre-and post-injection were significant (p<0.01) in both groups. VAS score changes between two groups were greater (p<0.01) in the second group. The more severe the disc herniation (protrusion and extrusion) in MRI finding, the more marked VAS score changes in the second group. When morbidity period was less than 1 year, the VAS score changes in the second group were greater (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: The therapeutic effect of catheter inserted continuous epidural injection is better than that of intermittent epidural injection in patients with low back pain.

Prevalence of Physically Disabled Students in Rural Community

OBJECTIVE: To compare key-person method with census method on the prevalence of physically disabled students and to obtain the prevalence of the physically disabled students in rural community. METHOD: Total 4,890 students of 20 schools in Kyungaido province were surveyed in 1997. Two-thousands and twenty-two students of 8 schools were surveyed by a census method and 2,868 students of 12 schools by a key-person method. RESULTS: The prevalence of the physically disabled students in rural community was 0.53% of the population. The prevalence of the physically disabled students was 0.69% by a census method and 0.42% by a key-person method. This result suggests that there is no significant difference in the prevalence of physically disabled students between the two survey methods (p>0.05). CONCLUSION: A key-person method is as effective as a census method for prevalence survey of physically disabled students in rural communities because of cost effectiveness and less personnel.

The Effect of Cold Air Application on the Intramuscular and the Skin Surface Temperatures in the Gluteal Muscle

Purpose of this study is to evaluate the temperature lowering effects of the local cold air application on the skin surface and the muscle of different depth, and to observe whether the rebound rise of the temperature occurs after the cold air application. Subjects were prepared in a relaxed prone position. Cold air of CRAis(Kyung-won Century, Korea) was applied to the gluteal area of 20 healthy subjects for 5 minutes. The skin and intramuscular temperatures were measured by a thermogram(Infrared system, Sweden) and digital thermometers(Barnant company, USA). The temperatures were measured before and 30 seconds after the cold air application, and then every 5 minutes for the next 110 minutes. The few variables were considered that might affect the temperature changes. The thermometer-probes were inserted into the outer quadrant of the gluteal muscle below 5 cm from the iliac crest with the depth of 2 cm, 4 cm, and 6 cm respectively. ANOVA was used for the analysis of the data. The resting temperature of the skin surface was 32.6+/-1.2oC, and the lowest temperature was 12.9+/-3.3oC after 5 minutes of cold air application. The resting intramuscular temperatures with 2 cm, 4 cm, and 6 cm depth were 36.5+/-0.2oC, 36.9+/-0.2oC, and 37.1+/-0.2oC respectively (p<0.05). The lowest temperature in 2 cm, 4 cm, and 6 cm depth was 35.1+/-0.7oC, 36.2+/-0.4oC, and 36.9+/-0.3oC respectively(p<0.05). The mean duration to reach the lowest temperature was 20, 25, and 45 minutes respectively. The temperatures in the skin and the muscle with the depth of 2 cm, 4 cm, and 6 cm after 2 hours on cold air application were 32.2+/-1.1oC, 36.2+/-0.5oC, 36.6+/-0.3oC, and 36.9+/-0.3oC(p<0.05) respectively. The temperatures in the skin and the muscle were significantly lower after 2 hours than before the cold air application(p<0.05). The change of skin surface temperature was more rapid than that of the muscle and the deeper the muscle was the lesser the temperature change. In conclusion, the effect of cold air application for 5 minutes lasts up to 2 hours and the rebound rise of the temperature due to reactive vasodilatation seems not to occur in the gluteal muscle.