• Journal of Gastric Cancer
• /
• 제19권1호
• /
• pp.49-61
• /
• 2019

Purpose: The perigastric vagus nerve may play an important role in preserving function after gastrectomy, and intraoperative neurophysiologic tests might represent a feasible method of evaluating the vagus nerve. The purpose of this study is to assess the feasibility of neurophysiologic evaluations of the function and viability of perigastric vagus nerve branches during gastrectomy. Materials and Methods: Thirteen patients (1 open total gastrectomy, 1 laparoscopic total gastrectomy, and 11 laparoscopic distal gastrectomy) were prospectively enrolled. The hepatic and celiac branches of the vagus nerve were exposed, and grabbing type stimulation electrodes were applied as follows: 10-30 mA intensity, 4 trains, $1,000{\mu}s/train$, and $5{\times}$frequency. Visible myocontractile movement and electrical signals were monitored via needle probes before and after gastrectomy. Gastrointestinal symptoms were evaluated preoperatively and postoperatively at 3 weeks and 3 months, respectively. Results: Responses were observed after stimulating the celiac branch in 10, 9, 10, and 6 patients in the antrum, pylorus, duodenum, and proximal jejunum, respectively. Ten patients responded to hepatic branch stimulation at the duodenum. After vagus-preserving distal gastrectomy, 2 patients lost responses to the celiac branch at the duodenum and jejunum (1 each), and 1 patient lost response to the hepatic branch at the duodenum. Significant procedure-related complications and meaningful postoperative diarrhea were not observed. Conclusions: Intraoperative neurophysiologic testing seems to be a feasible methodology for monitoring the perigastric vagus nerves. Innervation of the duodenum via the celiac branch and postoperative preservation of the function of the vagus nerves were confirmed in most patients.

• 대한임상검사과학회지
• /
• 제54권2호
• /
• pp.157-162
• /
• 2022

본 술기의 목적은 운동피질 주변에 발생한 뇌종양 환자의 수술에서 TceMEP로 인해 발생하는 위양성을 방지하고 수술 중 운동영역의 정확한 매핑과 피질척수로 보존하기 위함이다. 또한 검사과정에서 발생하는 시행착오를 줄이고 검사시간을 최소화하여 검사결과에 대한 빠른 피드백으로 수술하는 의사에게 정확한 정보를 전달함에 있다. 본 술기의 가장 중요한 요소는 첫번째로 일정 세기의 자극역치로 검사해야 하는 것과 두번째로는 일정 수준의 마취농도를 적정 수준으로 유지하는 것이 수술 중 발생하는 위양성을 막는 기본적이 요소이다. 세번째로는 수술하는 반대쪽 부위에 다중 채널을 이용한 기록전극의 설치로 최대한 많은 근육에서 TceMEP파형과 집접피질자극 및 직접피질하 자극에 대한 반응을 측정하는 것이다. 이런 조건들이 수술이 진행되는 동안 원활하게 유지된다면 검사에서 오는 위양성이 아닌 그 밖의 요인들에서 발생할 수 있는 원인들을 예측할 수 있다.

• Journal of Korean Neurosurgical Society
• /
• 제64권1호
• /
• pp.78-87
• /
• 2021

Objective : Intraoperative neurophysiological monitoring (IONM) has been widely used during spine surgery to reduce or prevent neurologic deficits, however, its application to the surgical management for cervical myelopathy remains controversial. This study aimed to assess the success rate of IONM in patients with cervical myelopathy and to investigate the factors associated with successful baseline monitoring and the effect of increasing the stimulation intensity by focusing on motor evoked potentials (MEPs). Methods : The data of 88 patients who underwent surgery for cervical myelopathy with IONM between January 2016 and June 2018 were retrospectively reviewed. The success rate of baseline MEP monitoring at the initial stimulation of 400 V was investigated. In unmonitorable cases, the stimulation intensity was increased to 999 V, and the success rate final MEP monitoring was reinvestigated. In addition, factors related to the success rate of baseline MEP monitoring were investigated using independent t-test, Wilcoxon rank-sum test, chi-squared test, and Fisher's exact probability test for statistical analysis. The factors included age, sex, body mass index, diabetes mellitus, smoking history, symptom duration, Torg-Pavlov ratio, space available for the cord (SAC), cord compression ratio (CCR), intramedullary increased signal intensity (SI) on magnetic resonance imaging, SI length, SI ratio, the Medical Research Council (MRC) grade, the preoperative modified Nurick grade and Japanese Orthopedic Association (JOA) score. Results : The overall success rate for reliable MEP response was 52.3% after increasing the stimulation intensity. No complications were observed to be associated with increased intensity. The factors related to the success rate of final MEP monitoring were found to be SAC (p<0.001), CCR (p<0.001), MRC grade (p<0.001), preoperative modified Nurick grade (p<0.001), and JOA score (p<0.001). The cut-off score for successful MEP monitoring was 5.67 mm for SAC, 47.33% for the CCR, 3 points for MRC grade, 2 points for the modified Nurick grade, and 12 points for the JOA score. Conclusion : Increasing the stimulation intensity could significantly improve the success rate of baseline MEP monitoring for unmonitorable cases at the initial stimulation in cervical myelopathy. In particular, the SAC, CCR, MRC grade, preoperative Nurick grade and JOA score may be considered as the more important related factors associated with the success rate of MEP monitoring. Therefore, the degree of preoperative neurological functional deficits and the presence of spinal cord compression on imaging could be used as new detailed criteria for the application of IONM in patients with cervical myelopathy.

• Korean Journal of Otorhinolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery
• /
• 제60권5호
• /
• pp.209-214
• /
• 2017

Background and Objectives Tinnitus retraining therapy (TRT) is one of the most effective treatment modalities of tinnitus based on the neurophysiological model proposed by Jastreboff and Hazell. This study was performed to evaluate the effect of counselor factor on treatment outcomes of TRT. Subjects and Method The total of 78 patients who had TRT from three different counselors in a tinnitus clinic of tertiary referral center from Jan 2015 to Dec 2015 were included in this study. Their medical records were retrospectively reviewed to evaluate the therapeutic response to TRT. Results Among 78 patients who were followed-up for more than 6 months, 47, 20, and 11 patients were treated by counselors A, B, C (all ENT specialists), respectively. Counselor A had 15-year-experience of TRT counseling, whereas counselor B and C were well trained but beginners of TRT counseling. Initial clinical characteristics including Tinnitus Handicap Inventory (THI) and tinnitus Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) scores of the patients among three groups were not significantly different. Treatment responses evaluated via THI and most of the tinnitus VAS scores after at least 6 months after TRT were significantly improved in all three groups (p<0.05) with no significant difference between the senior (A) and junior (B, C) group. Conclusion TRT seems to be an effective treatment modality of tinnitus even in this short term follow-up study. Treatment outcomes of TRT may not depend on the counselors once they are well trained and follow the same protocol.