Changes in Toxicological Characteristics after Sales of Nonprescription Drugs in Convenience Stores

PURPOSE: On November 15, 2012, sales of OTC (Over-The-Counter) drugs began at convenience stores, which changed the accessibility of some drugs. As a result, the exposure and access patterns of these drugs could have changed. In this study, we reviewed the changes in the characteristics of drug poisoning patients because of the reposition of nonprescription drugs according to the revised Pharmaceutical Affairs Act. METHODS: A retrospective study was conducted to evaluate changes in characteristics of drug poisoning patients between 2008 and 2016. A registry was developed by an emergency medical center in a local tertiary teaching hospital, and patients who visited the center were enrolled in this registry. We compared two periods, from 2008 to 2012 (Pre OTC) and from 2013 to 2016 (Post OTC), for type of intoxicant, time from poisoning to visiting the emergency center, intention, psychiatric history, previous suicidal attempt, alcohol status, and emergency room outcomes. The primary outcome was the number of patients who took acetaminophen and NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). Secondary outcomes were ICU admission rate, mortality rate, and number of patients who visited the ER when the pharmacy was closed after taking acetaminophen and NSAIDs (nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs). RESULTS: Among 1,564 patients, 945 and 619 patients visited the emergency room during pre and post OTC periods. The number of patients with acetaminophen and NSAIDs poisoning decreased from 9.2% to 6.1% (p=0.016). The ICU admission rate and mortality rate in the emergency room did not show significant results in the relevant patient groups, and so was the number of patients visiting ER when the pharmacy was closed taking acetaminophen and NSAIDs. CONCLUSION: Despite the sales of nonprescription drugs at convenience stores, the number of acetaminophen and NSAIDs poisoning patients decreased.

Anesthetic experience of using the intraoperative transesophageal echocardiography in endovascular stent graft placement of descending thoracic aortic aneurysm: A case report

Endovascular stent graft placement is a minimally invasive technique that can be applied to treat many diseases of the descending thoracic aorta. For accurate stent graft placement, clear identification of aortic lesion is important and transesophageal echocardiography (TEE) is an ideal imaging tool for descending thoracic aortic aneurysms. Also TEE is able to detect a perigraft leak that cannot be confirmed by angiography. Unlike angiography, TEE image acquisition capability is not dependent on nephrotoxic contrast dye. The analysis of perioperative cardiac function provided by TEE may be helpful in the perioperative anesthetic management. Furthermore, the tip of the transesophageal echocardiographic probe can be used as a marker to guide stent graft positioning. We report a case of endovascular stent graft placement using TEE in a patient with descending thoracic aortic aneurysm under general anesthesia.