Educational outcomes of simulation-based training in regional anaesthesia: a scoping review.

Background: Structured training in regional anaesthesia includes pretraining on simulation-based educational platforms to establish a safe and controlled learning environment before learners are provided clinical exposure in an apprenticeship model. This scoping review was designed to appraise the educational outcomes of current simulation-based educational modalities in regional anaesthesia.

Methods: This review conformed to PRISMA-ScR guidelines.

Postoperative pain trajectory and opioid requirements after laparoscopic bariatric surgery: a single-centre historical cohort study.

Purpose: Concerns around delayed emergence and opioid-induced ventilatory impairment in bariatric surgery can lead to intraoperative reliance on short-acting opioids and avoidance of long-acting analgesics with potential sedative effects. Nevertheless, an overly-conservative intraoperative analgesic strategy may result in significant pain at emergence and higher opioid requirements in later phases of care. We sought to establish the pattern of intraoperative analgesic use in bariatric surgical patients as well as their postoperative pain trajectory and opioid requirements.

Defining the optimal local anaesthetic infusion regimen for erector spinae plane block catheters: the devil is in the details.

Ni Eochagain and colleagues report that programmed intermittent bolus and continuous infusion regimens in continuous erector spinae plane (ESP) block catheters produced similar quality of recovery (QoR-15) scores, pain scores, and use of rescue opioids after video-assisted thoracic surgery. This is a reassuring finding for practitioners without access to pumps with programmed intermittent bolus functionality. Nevertheless, it remains plausible that the benefit of one regimen over another might vary depending on the specific infusion parameters.

YouTube as a source of education in perioperative anesthesia for patients and trainees: a systematic review.

Background: Online video sharing platforms like YouTube (Google LLC, San Bruno, CA, USA) have become a substantial source of health information. We sought to conduct a systematic review of studies assessing the overall quality of perioperative anesthesia videos on YouTube.

Methods: We searched Embase, MEDLINE, and Ovid for articles published from database inception to 1 May 2023.

Research priorities in regional anaesthesia: an international Delphi study.

Background: Regional anaesthesia use is growing worldwide, and there is an increasing emphasis on research in regional anaesthesia to improve patient outcomes. However, priorities for future study remain unclear. We therefore conducted an international research prioritisation exercise, setting the agenda for future investigators and funding bodies.

Standardizing nomenclature in regional anesthesia: an ASRA-ESRA Delphi consensus study of upper and lower limb nerve blocks.

Background: Inconsistent nomenclature and anatomical descriptions of regional anesthetic techniques hinder scientific communication and engender confusion; this in turn has implications for research, education and clinical implementation of regional anesthesia. Having produced standardized nomenclature for abdominal wall, paraspinal and chest wall regional anesthetic techniques, we aimed to similarly do so for upper and lower limb peripheral nerve blocks.

Methods: We performed a three-round Delphi international consensus study to generate standardized names and anatomical descriptions of upper and lower limb regional anesthetic techniques.

Long-term Outcomes with Spinal versus General Anesthesia for Hip Fracture Surgery: A Randomized Trial.

Background: The effects of spinal versus general anesthesia on long-term outcomes have not been well studied. This study tested the hypothesis that spinal anesthesia is associated with better long-term survival and functional recovery than general anesthesia.

Methods: A prespecified analysis was conducted of long-term outcomes of a completed randomized superiority trial that compared spinal anesthesia versus general anesthesia for hip fracture repair.

Dorsal root ganglion: a key to understanding the therapeutic effects of the erector spinae plane (ESP) and other intertransverse process blocks?

Since its description in 2016, the erector spinae plane block (ESPB) has become a widely employed regional anesthetic technique and kindled interest in a range of related techniques, collectively termed intertransverse process blocks. There has been ongoing controversy over mechanism of action of the ESPB, mainly due to incongruities between results of cutaneous sensory testing, clinical efficacy studies, and investigations into the neural structures that are reached by injected local anesthetic (LA). This paper reviews the spread of LA to the paravertebral and epidural space and the cutaneous anesthesia in ESPB, with specific emphasis on the dorsal root ganglion (DRG).

Outcomes with spinal versus general anesthesia for patients with and without preoperative cognitive impairment: Secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial.

Introduction: The effect of spinal versus general anesthesia on the risk of postoperative delirium or other outcomes for patients with or without cognitive impairment (including dementia) is unknown.

Methods: Post hoc secondary analysis of a multicenter pragmatic trial comparing spinal versus general anesthesia for adults aged 50 years or older undergoing hip fracture surgery.

Results: Among patients randomized to spinal versus general anesthesia, new or worsened delirium occurred in 100/295 (33.

A hood shield reduces postdoffing contamination during simulated COVID-19 airway management: an exploratory, simulation-based randomized study.

Purpose: SARS-CoV-2 poses a significant occupational health threat to health care workers performing aerosol-generating medical procedures, with a threefold increased risk of a positive test and predicted infection compared with the general population. Nevertheless, the personal protective equipment (PPE) configuration that provides better protection with lower contamination rates is still unknown.

Methods: We enrolled 40 practitioners with airway management training (anesthesiologists, anesthesia assistants/nurses) in an exploratory, simulation-based randomized study.

Erector spinae block: beyond the torso.

Purpose Of Review: This article aims to summarize the current literature describing the application of erector spinae plane (ESP) blocks for regional anesthesia of upper and lower limbs and to discuss the advantages and limitations.

Recent Findings: Investigations are still at an early stage but results are promising. High thoracic ESP blockade can relieve acute and chronic shoulder pain through local anesthetic diffusion to cervical nerve roots, although it may not be as effective as direct local anesthetic injection around the brachial plexus.

No Benefits of Adding Dexmedetomidine, Ketamine, Dexamethasone, and Nerve Blocks to an Established Multimodal Analgesic Regimen after Total Knee Arthroplasty.

Background: An optimal opioid-sparing multimodal analgesic regimen to treat severe pain can enhance recovery after total knee arthroplasty. The hypothesis was that adding five recently described intravenous and regional interventions to multimodal analgesic regimen can further reduce opioid consumption.

Methods: In a double-blinded fashion, 78 patients undergoing elective total knee arthroplasty were randomized to either (1) a control group (n = 39) that received spinal anesthesia with intrathecal morphine, periarticular local anesthesia infiltration, intravenous dexamethasone, and a single injection adductor canal block or (2) a study group (n = 39) that received the same set of analgesic treatments plus five additional interventions: local anesthetic infiltration between the popliteal artery and capsule of the posterior knee, intraoperative intravenous dexmedetomidine and ketamine, and postoperatively, one additional intravenous dexamethasone bolus and two additional adductor canal block injections.

Core outcome set for peripheral regional anesthesia research: a systematic review and Delphi study.

Background/importance: There is heterogeneity among the outcomes used in regional anesthesia research.

Objective: We aimed to produce a core outcome set for regional anesthesia research.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review and Delphi study to develop this core outcome set.

Experiences of healthcare providers with a novel emergency response intubation team during COVID-19.

Objectives: In the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, there were significant concerns about the infectious risks of intubation to healthcare providers. In response, a dedicated emergency response intubation team (ERIT) consisting of anesthesiologists and allied health providers was instituted for our emergency department (ED). Given the high-risk nature of intubations and the new interprofessional team dynamics, we sought to assess health-care provider experiences and potential areas of improvement.

A specialized airway management team for COVID-19 patients: a retrospective study of the experience of two Canadian hospitals in Toronto.

Background: In the COVID-19 pandemic, an unprecedented number of individuals required endotracheal intubation. To safely face these challenges, expert intubation teams were formed in some institutions. Here, we report on the experience of emergency rapid intubation teams (ERITs) in two Canadian hospitals.

Spinal Anesthesia or General Anesthesia for Hip Surgery in Older Adults.

Background: The effects of spinal anesthesia as compared with general anesthesia on the ability to walk in older adults undergoing surgery for hip fracture have not been well studied.

Methods: We conducted a pragmatic, randomized superiority trial to evaluate spinal anesthesia as compared with general anesthesia in previously ambulatory patients 50 years of age or older who were undergoing surgery for hip fracture at 46 U.S.

Bilateral continuous erector spinae plane block using a programmed intermittent bolus regimen versus intrathecal morphine for postoperative analgesia in living donor laparoscopic hepatectomy: A randomized controlled trial.

Study Objective: To determine if continuous bilateral erector spinae plane (ESP) blocks would improve the postoperative analgesia in the first 48 h after laparoscopic donor hepatectomy, compared to intrathecal morphine (ITM).

Design: Prospective, randomized controlled trial.

Setting: A single tertiary care center from October 2019 and September 2020.

Mechanisms of action of fascial plane blocks: a narrative review.

Background: Fascial plane blocks (FPBs) target the space between two fasciae, rather than discrete peripheral nerves. Despite their popularity, their mechanisms of action remain controversial, particularly for erector spinae plane and quadratus lumborum blocks.

Objectives: This narrative review describes the scientific evidence underpinning proposed mechanisms of action, highlights existing knowledge gaps, and discusses implications for clinical practice and research.

Anatomical basis of fascial plane blocks.

Fascial plane blocks (FPBs) are regional anesthesia techniques in which the space ("plane") between two discrete fascial layers is the target of needle insertion and injection. Analgesia is primarily achieved by local anesthetic spread to nerves traveling within this plane and adjacent tissues. This narrative review discusses key fundamental anatomical concepts relevant to FPBs, with a focus on blocks of the torso.