• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.18 no.2
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• pp.146-150
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• 2005

Background: Recently, the number of patients visiting pain clinics has been increasing with the augmented concerns of those patients about the management of their pain. We conducted this study in order to elucidate the characteristics of patients visiting pain clinics and to determine a method to further raise their awareness about pain treatment. Methods: We reviewed 1,424 new patients who visited our pain clinic from March 2003 to December 2004. We analyzed these patients according to their age and sex, treatment method before visiting the pain clinic, coexisting disease, chief complaint and pain location, resident district, route of visiting pain clinic, and degree of impairment due to pain by use of questionnaire. Results: In age distribution, the largest proportion (23.5%) was in their 50's. Most patients (64.0%) had received treatment in an oriental medicine clinic before visiting the pain clinic. The most common coexisting disease was hypertension (20.3%) and low back pain was the most common chief complaint (68.3%). Most of the patients lived in Gyeonggido (87%) and most visited our pain clinic on the recommendation of other patients who had visited our pain clinic before. Conclusions: We need to guide pain patients to undergo proper treatment much earlier using patient education or a referral system. Moreover, we should be more careful in patients with diabetes mellitus, and should have greater concern in the treatment of low back pain.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.20 no.2
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• pp.181-185
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• 2007

Background: The first pain clinic opened in korea in 1973 at Yonsei University Hospital, however, since then the number of pain clinics has gradually increased, as has the number of patients visiting them. This increase in patient has caused concerns about the way in which pain is managed, therefore, we conducted a retrospective review of data according to the sex, age and disease in an attept to aid us in planning for the future of our pain clinic. Methods: We analyzed 1,282 new patients who had visited our pain clinic and 828 inpatients who were admitted to our pain clinic between March 2006 and February 2007. Results: The most frequent age group was in the sixties in outpatient and in the seventies in inpatient. In addition, the incidence of disease in new patients and inpatients was as follows: in new patients, lumbar herniated intervertebral disc 16.5%, hyperhidrosis 12.3%, cervical disc disorder 10.5%, acute herpes zoster 8.2%, postherpetic neuralgia 7.9%, and trigeminal neuralgia 7.0%; in admitted patients, acute herpes zoster 17.6%, trigeminal neuralgia 15.6%, lumbar herniated intervertebral disc 13.0%, postherpetic neuralgia 11.2%, hyperhidrosis 9.8%, and complex regional pain syndrome 7.0%. Conclusions: The patients visiting our pain clinic have presented with a wide variety of diseases. This improved care reflects an effort to expand our fields not only to the management of outpatients but also inpatients, as well as to the treatment of new fields of disease. In the future, We need to manage various pain patients not only in outpatients but also in inpatients to expand our field even through pain clinic is rapidly growing in Korea.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.363-366
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• 1995

Blockade of the ganglion impar was performed as an alternertive means of managing intractable neoplastic perineal pain of sympathetic origin. We successively treated a patient who had suffered from excessive perianal sweating with ganglion impar block using pure alcohol. Eight months after block, the patient has no complaint of perianal sweating. Ganglion impar block is an effective method in the treatment of excessive perianal sweating as well as perineal pain of sympathetic origin.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.126-129
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• 2000

Age-related osteoporotic compression fractures occur frequently in old aged group recently. Percutaneous vertebroplasty has recently been introduced as a therapeutic method for the treatment of pain associated with osteoporotic vertebral compression fracture. Percutaneous intravertebral injection of PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) results in marked reduction in pain and morbidity. Among complications during vertebroplasty with PMMA, pulmonary embolism is repotred occasionally but the reports about hypotension are not common. This case is a report of a patient whom significant hypotension occured during percutaneous vertebroplasty.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.101-104
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• 1998

Backgrouds: Twent five years have passed since the opening of the first pain clinic in korea, in 1973 at Yonsei University Hospital. The number of pain clinics are gradually increasing in recent times. It is important to plan for future pain clinics with emphasis on improving the quality of pain management. Therefore we reviewed the patients in our hospital to help us in planning for the future of our pain clinic. Methods: We analyzed 2656 patients who had visited our Kim Chan Pain Clinic, accordance to age, sex, disease, and type of treatment block, from July 1996 to August 1997. Results: The prevalent age group was in the fifties, 27.3%, seventy years and older compromised 9.2%. The most common disease were as follows: lower back pain(46.2%); cervical and upper extremities pain(23.1%); trigeminal neuralgia(7.2%); and hyperhydrosis(5.8%) Both nerve blocks and medication were prescribed as treatment. Lumbar epidural block(16.3%) and stellate ganglion block(15.6%) were the most frequent blocks performed among various nerve blocks. Among nerve block under C-arm guidance, lumbar facet joint block(24.4%) and lumbar root block(22.5%) were performed most frequently. Trigeminal nerve block(18.4%), thoracic(17.0%) and lumbar sympathetic ganglion block(11.4%) were next most prevalent blocks performed frequent block. Conclusions: Treatments at our hospital were focused on nerve blocks and medications prescriptions. Nerve blocks are of particular importance in the diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain. However in future, to raise the quality of pain management, we need to fucus on a multidisciplinary/interdisciplinary team approach.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.13 no.1
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• pp.123-125
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• 2000

Rectus abdominis syndrome is the abdominal pain which occurs in the distribution of the medial or lateral cutaneous branch of the 7~12th intercostal nerves. It is frequently cause that results in unnecessary pain and expense to patient. The physical examination is difficult because of severe abdominal pain. We must have attention to the possibility that patients with abdominal pain, in whom no intra- abdominal cause is founded, may suffer from this presumed nerve entrapment syndrome. If we can find the cause of pain in the abdominal rectus muscle, no evaluation and surgery are required and therapy can be simple.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.24 no.4
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• pp.239-241
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• 2011

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.8 no.2
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• pp.308-311
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• 1995

The incidence of contamination of epidural catheters used for pain control was investigated. To prevent epidural infection, all patients with epidural catheters had taken amoxacillin 1.5gm/day orally. Of the cultures of catheters catched from 303 patients undergoing continuous epidrual catheterization, 5 catheters (1.7%) were found to be contaminated; cervical 1/86 (1.2%), thoracic 1/27 (3.7%), and lumbar 3/190 (1.6%). Staphylococcus epidermidis was the most common etiologic agent (60%). To prevent epidural infection, sterilization of the skin around the epidural catheter and prophylactic use of broad-spectrum antibiotics are thought to be beneficial.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.12 no.1
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• pp.123-127
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• 1999

Chronic pain is a frequent complication after spinal cord injury. Various medical and surgical approaches have been applied for management of spinal cord injury pain but none of them are definitive. The N-methyl-D-Aspartate (NMDA) receptor antagonist, ketamine has been reported to have a significant effect in the management of neuropathic pain. We used small divided doses of intravenous ketamine (30 mg divided by 6 equals 5 mg, 5 min interval) in spinal cord injury patients suffering from chronic pain, and accomplished significant pain relief without side effects.

• The Korean Journal of Pain
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.127-130
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• 1995

A 34 year old male patient visited to our neuro-pain clinic with symtoms of a left frontal headache, eyeball throbbing and occipital pain. Two days after the first visit to our clinic. pain was aggrevated and the skin eruption appeared on the left forehead. He was diagnosed as raving Herpes Zoster Opthalmicus(HZO). We performed stellate ganglion block(SGB), but pain did not subsid. So a continuous cervical epidural block was perfomed(CCEB) and it could relieve the pain promptly. In this case, VAS(visual analogue scale) was diminished from 10 to 3 and the skin eruption was healed 24 days after the treatment with CCEB and SGB. We experienced that CCEB is more effective rather than intermittent SGB in intractable HZO. CCEB should be considered to the treatment of choice in patients with HZO.