Viable tumour cells are produced in the surgical smoke from tumour dissection by ultrasonic scalpel. Surgical relevance Surgical smoke is a byproduct of dissection using a number of powered devices. Hazards to operating room personnel and patients are unclear. This study has shown that use of an ultrasonic dissection device can produce smoke that contains viable tumour cells. Although the model is somewhat artificial, a theoretical risk exists, and measures to evacuate surgical smoke efficiently are important.

Qigong is a complementary intervention for preventing and curing disease, and protecting and improving health through regulation of body and mind. Recently, we have been studying the psychoneuroimmunological effects of Qigong on the promotion of health. However, there are not many studies on the therapeutic efficacy of Qigong on various symptoms in Korea, hence the need to survey the clinical efficacy of Qigong. To evaluate the impact of Qigong in health care we categorized its effectiveness on the basis of ten years of subjects' memoranda. Among the 768 subjects, the motivation for doing Qigong was mostly to attend to health problems (81.5%), and males were more likely to use Qigong than females. The most improved symptoms were associated with psychological and musculoskeletal problems. Furthermore 66.9% of subjects reported improvements of perceived physical health and 40.3% of perceived psychological health. Other symptoms reduced by Qigong were pain (43.1%), fatigue (22.1%), and insomnia (8.7%). Wound healing was also surveyed (n = 332), and 84% of respondents reported improvement in recovery time, 66.6% reported reduced inflammation after Qigong and 50.3% reported no scarring as compared to before. In addition, 59.9% of respondents reported an increase in resistance to the common cold after four months of Qigong. The limitation of the study is that it is a retrospective survey on the basis of trainees' experiences of Qigong. Although this may constitute a potential bias, the study despite its limitations does provide precious empirical evidence of the effectiveness of Qigong.

This preliminary study investigated the psychoneuroimmunological effects of Korean Qi‐therapy (QT) on randomly divided placebo group (N = 10) and QT group (N = 10) via measuring the level of anxiety, mood, cortisol and melatonin, and the cellular function of neutrophil and NK cells. Although the basal levels of anxiety and mood were not different between the two groups, there were significant differences in group by time interaction in the anxiety level (5 min after intervention, Post I: changed by −23 per cent in QT group and −10 per cent in placebo; 1 hour after, Post II: −23 per cent, −8 per cent) and mood score (Post I: −34 per cent, −14 per cent; Post II: −55 per cent, −21 per cent). Melatonin levels also changed differently by intervention. In response to QT, melatonin levels increased after treatment but decreased in the control. For neutrophil response to intervention, superoxide generation was increased by QT but decreased by placebo (group by time interaction, p < 0.0001; changed by 36 per cent in the QT group and 8 per cent in the placebo group). There was a significant change in NK cell cytotoxicity in the QT group. The cytotoxicity increased (27 per cent compared to baseline) in the QT group but there were no changes in the placebo group (7 per cent). Our current observations suggest that Korean Qi‐therapy may induce psychological stabilization, increase melatonin level and enhance cellular function of neutrophil and NK cell. Therefore Qi‐therapy may be an effective complementary method for human health care and in the prevention of disease. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Purpose: It is hypothesized that robotic gastrectomy may surpass laparoscopic gastrectomy after the operators acquire long-term experience and skills in the manipulation of robotic arms. This study aimed to evaluate the long-term learning curve of robotic distal gastrectomy (RDG) for gastric cancer compared with laparoscopic distal gastrectomy (LDG). Materials and Methods: From October 2008 to December 2015, patients who underwent LDG (n=809) were matched to patients who underwent RDG (n=232) at a 1:1 ratio, by using a propensity score matching method after stratification for the operative year. The surgical outcomes, such as trends of operative time, blood loss, and complication rate, were compared between the two groups. Results: The RDG group showed a longer operative time (171.3 minutes vs. 147.6 minutes, P<0.001) but less estimated blood loss (77.6 ml vs. 116.6 ml, P<0.001). The complication rate and postoperative recovery did not differ between the two groups. The RDG group showed a longer operative time and similar estimated blood loss compared with the LDG group after 5 years of experience (operative time: 159.2 minutes vs. 136.0 minutes in 2015, P=0.003; estimated blood loss: 72.9 ml vs. 78.1 ml in 2015, P=0.793). Conclusions: In terms of short-term surgical outcomes, RDG may not surpass LDG after a long-term experience with the technique.

BackgroundLow body weight was one of the risk factors of osteoporosis. Little is known about the correlation between body weight change and bone mineral density (BMD) in Korean women. Therefore, this study was designed to reveal the impact of body weight change on BMD of the lumbar spine in perimenopausal women.Methods105 healthy perimenopausal women aged between 44 and 50 years old were enrolled from August 2002 to March 2009. BMD was measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Partial correlation coefficients between body weight change and BMD change were calculated after the adjustments for several variables. BMD changes among groups based on BMI and the percentage change in body weight during 1-year follow-up period were compared.ResultsAt both baseline and year 1, BMD of lumbar spine tended to be associated more with body weight. There was a significant association between body weight change and BMD change in lumbar spine during 1-year follow-up period. The weight gain group relatively showed an increase in BMD of lumbar spines than weight loss group. There was no BMD change in BMI less than 23 kg/m2 group, but in case of BMI more than 23 kg/m2 group, BMD in weight gain group increased more than the weight maintaining group.ConclusionThis study demonstrated that body weight change is associated with change in BMD of lumbar spine in perimenopausal women especially if they are overweight.