Departments/Faculties

KNU School Of Medicine

Department

Basic Science
Department Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine
Introduction

Basic research 

 

1. Monitoring of the depth of anesthesia: Through EEG monitoring, the anesthetic effects on the changes of spectrum of brain waves were conducted. 

 

2. Biomedical engineering and drug delivery system: The department is interested in the cell transplantation, which could provide analgesic effects. The analgesic effects of transplantation of chromaffin cells into the central nervous system (CNS) have been investigated using neuropathic pain model. 

 

3. Pain mechanism: We revealed that superoxide, nitric oxide (NO), and their interactive metabolite, peroxynitrite are important reactive oxygen species (ROS) to develop ipsilateral and contralateral allodynia. Moreover, these ROS enhance phosphorylation of NMDA receptor in the spinal cord to induce central sensitization in the chronic post-ischemia pain (CPIP) model. Also, our current research is directed to establishing the role of mitogen activated protein kinase (MAPK)-, PKA-, or PKCdependent intracellular signaling in controlling central sensitization in the CPIP model. Hopefully, our ongoing research will increase the knowledge about the pathophysiology of CRPS and the development of novel therapeutic regimens. 

 

4. Cardiovascular research: The effects of remifentanil on the extent of acute myocardial infacrtion are studied. 

 

 

Clinical research 

 

1. Pain
1) Stellate ganglion blockage (SGB) is a selective sympathetic block that influences ipsilateral head, neck, and upper extremity. Recently, SGB increases sleep time and decreases night awakenings in breast cancer patients. Thus, the sedative effect on SGB has been evaluated​ using bispectral index (BIS).

2) Vitamin C: Herpes zoster (HZ) is characterized by vesicular eruptions in a dermatome distribution followed by painful neuralgia. The effects of intravenous administration of 4 grams of vitamin C, an antioxidant, will be studied to reduce the pain in patients with herpes zoster or idiopathic sudden sensorineural hearing loss (ISSHL). 

 

2. Postoperative nausea and vomiting
1) Midazolam (a short acting benzodiazephine): Postoperative nausea and vomiting (PONV) is one of the most undesirable complications after anesthesia and surgery. The anti-emetic effects of midazolam for the management of PONV are to be examined.

 

3. Cardiovascular-hemodynamics research
1) Ischemic pre-conditioning and post-conditioning: Cardiopulmonary bypass and mechanical ventilation could increase the risk of lung injury during anesthesia. In particular, pulmonary interventional treatment is important during the cardiac surgery using cardiopulmonary bypass in high-risk patients of lung injury. However, in spite of many studies, there are no reliable methods of prevention and treatment. The department examines the effects of ischemic preconditioning and post-conditioning to reduce lung injury in high risk group during anesthesia.

 

4. Anesthetic pharmacology
1) To provide safer and better anesthesia, the personalized medicine including the differences in metabolism of anesthetic drugs should be considered. Also, drug pharmacokinetics and interactions between drugs should be considered.​

 

 

Professors

Chairman: Sungsik Park, MD, PhD(sspark@knu.ac.kr)
Si Oh Kim, MD, PhD
Dong Gun Lim, MD, PhD
Kyung Hwa Kwak, MD, PhD
Seyeong Kim, MD, PhD
Jin Seok Yeo, MD
Seong Wook Hong, MD, PhD
Jun Mo Park, MD, PhD
Hoon Chung​