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OBJECTIVE: To investigate the duration and peak of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 shedding as infectivity markers for determining the isolation period. METHODS: A total of 2,558 upper respiratory tract (URT) and lower respiratory tract (LRT) specimens from 138 patients with laboratory-confirmed coronavirus disease were analyzed. Measurements of sequential viral loads were aggregated using the cubic spline smoothing function of a generalized additive model. The time to negative conversion was compared between symptom groups using survival analysis. RESULTS: In URT samples, viral RNA levels peaked on day 4 after symptom onset and rapidly decreased until day 10 for both E and RdRp genes, whereas those in LRT samples immediately peaked from symptom onset and decreased until days 15.6 and 15.0 for E and RdRp genes, respectively. Median (interquartile range) time to negative conversion was significantly longer in symptomatic (18.0 [13.0-25.0] days) patients than in asymptomatic (13.0 [9.5-17.5] days) patients. The more types of symptoms a patient had, the longer the time to negative conversion. CONCLUSIONS: The viral load rapidly changes depending on the time after symptom onset; the viral shedding period may be longer with more clinical symptoms. Different isolation policies should be applied depending on disease severity.

Conjunctival swelling is a common finding in patients positioned prone. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of head position on postoperative chemosis after prone spinal surgery. On the basis of the head position, 108 patients scheduled for prone lumbar surgery were randomly allocated to 1 of 2 groups: head neutral group (n=54) versus head down (HD) group (n=54). Head position was defined as neutral when the imaginary line from the occipital protuberance to the top of C7 spine process is parallel to the operating table. HD position was maintained by adjusting the height of the prone headrest 5 cm lower than neutral position. Chemosis was evaluated after surgery. The severity of chemosis, which was graded as none, mild, moderate, and severe, showed statistically significant difference between the head neutral group [24 (44%), 25 (46%), 3 (6%), 2 (4%), respectively] and HD group [10 (19%), 23 (43%), 17 (31%), 4 (7%), respectively, P

The Vital capacity technique is known to have some advantages over the tidal volume technique during inhalation induction of anesthesia.The aim of this study was to compare the incidence of withdrawal movement associated with the intravenous administration of rocuronium 0.3 mg/kg in children during inhalation induction with sevoflurane using the tidal volume and vital capacity techniques. Methods:We randomly assigned 130 patients (aged 5－12 years) to either tidal volume (group T) or vital capacity (group V) groups for inhalation induction with sevoflurane.Rocuronium 0.3 mg/kg was administrated after loss of the eyelash reflex.The time to loss of the eyelash reflex was recorded and adverse events during induction were documented.The patient’s response to rocuronium injection was graded using a four-point scale. Results:No significant differences were observed between the groups with respect to age, weight, and gender.The time to loss of the eyelash reflex was more rapid in group V than in group T (P ＜ 0.05).Excitatory movement developed more frequently in group T, and no significant differences were found in the incidence of other adverse events between the groups.The incidence of withdrawal movement associated with the injection of rocuronium was significantly lower in group V compared to group T (30 vs. 60%; P ＜ 0.05). Conclusions:Inhalation induction with sevoflurane using the vital capacity technique decreased the incidence of withdrawal movement during the injection of rocuronium compared to the tidal volume technique.

Background: Hydromorphone, a derivative of morphine, has the same actions and uses as morphine, has about eight times more potency on a milligram basis. Hydromorphone is used for the relief of moderate to severe pain. There has been no report in Korea on patient controlled analgesia (PCA) using hydromorphone. Here, the efficacy and incidence of side effects of PCA, with hydromorphone, were investigated. Methods: 68 patients scheduled for spinal, urological, gynecological and general surgery were enrolled. Patients received standardized general anesthesia, with the PCA initiated at the end of surgery. Parameters for PCA were a 0.1 mg bolus and 0.05 mg/hr infusion of hydromorphone, with a 10 min lockout interval. A verbal rating scale (1: none, 2: very mild, 3: mild, 4: moderate, 5: severe) of pain, nausea (mild, moderate, severe), vomiting, dizziness and somnolence were assessed at 6, 12, 24 hr postoperatively. The amount of hydromorphone used and the requirements for symptomatic relief were also recorded. Results: The mean pain scores were 3.5 0.8, 2.9 0.8 and 2.5 0.7, and the amounts of hydromorphone delivered were 1.0 0.1, 1.8 1.0 and 2.7 1.3 mg, 6, 12 and 24 hr postoperatively, respectively. The incidence of nausea, vomiting, dizziness and somnolence were 17.6, 4.4, 8.8 and 1.5%, respectively. Conclusions: Intravenous PCA, with hydromorphone, was effective in controlling postoperative pain, with fewer eide effects than morphine, as reported in the literature.