Dr. Vishal Uppal is an associate professor and the director of the regional anesthesia fellowship program at Dalhousie University, located in Halifax, Canada.
A study out of Stanford University has found that use of a femoral catheter in patients undergoing anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructive surgery is associated with better results.
A study has found no association between prescription glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonist medications and increased risk of aspiration or pneumonia in surgery patients.
A study has found that patients undergoing shoulder surgery who receive continuous nerve blocks experience less pain following surgery compared to those who receive single-shot nerve blocks and continuous analgesia.
Researchers at the Hospital for Special Surgery study the potential role of perioperative cannabinoids for pain management and opioid reduction with patients undergoing total knee arthroplasty.
Researchers from the London Health Sciences Centre use anatomical dissection to identify undocumented nerve pathways for the most diagnosed cancer worldwide.
He will present his award lecture, "Regional Anesthesia and Outcomes: Past, Present, and Future” on Saturday, March 23, in conjunction with the 49th Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting, in San Diego, CA.
Chief of anesthesia for Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre and professor of anesthesiology and pain medicine at the University of Toronto, Dr. Colin McCartney is to receive the 2024 Distinguished Service Award this March.
One approach to treating chronic low back pain is something called lumbar medial branch nerve radiofrequency ablation/neurotomy (LRFA), which targets painful facet joints. However, it has been suggested that LRFA may lead to multifidus muscle denervation, given its shared innervation from these nerves.
Physicians from Pittsburgh, PA, wanted to determine the usefulness of MRI in determining treatment plans. MRI is expensive and requires insurance preauthorization. One hypothesis was that patients with specific characteristics might have a greater benefit from the added step.
It is no secret that the mainstay of postoperative analgesia is opioid based, but studies confirm that the execution of a multimodal postoperative analgesic approach to postoperative pain control can help minimize opiate side effects.
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) to treat chronic low back pain continues to rise. Optimal patient selection remains one of the most important factors for SCS success. Researchers at the University of Kansas Medical Center believe they’ve found one group that is not likely to respond well.
Utilizing both high spinal anesthesia (HSA) and general anesthesia (GA) may lead to faster patient recovery times and overall better patient care when used in pediatric congenital heart surgery.
Founder and director of the Fibromyalgia and Centralized Pain Exploration (FACE) Lab, Dr. Andrea Chadwick is to receive the 2023 Presidential Scholar Award this November.
David Julius, PhD, who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 2021, has been selected to receive ASRA Pain Medicine’s 2023 John J. Bonica Award. He will present the annual lecture on Saturday, November 11, in conjunction with the 22nd Annual Pain Medicine Meeting in New Orleans, LA.
A study has found that ketamine may be more helpful in preventing postoperative pain among a subset of patients with a higher tendency toward central sensitization as measured by TSP (temporal summation of pain).
A retrospective chart review found a 3.7% occurrence rate of transient neurologic symptoms (TNS) in patients receiving 1.5% mepivacaine during Holmium Laser Enucleation of the Prostate (HoLEP) surgery and suggested a possible association of TNS development with quicker procedures, smaller prostates, lithotomy positioning, and younger age.
Using two targeted injections of local anesthetic medication may provide a comprehensive, effective means of pain control during breast cancer surgery, found a study by researchers at Western University, London, Ontario, Canada.
A review of medical literature found that infections following epidural and spinal blocks are rare. Infections following peripheral nerve block catheters are more common but have been less frequently studied; this may necessitate a review of patient and procedural aspects to lower the risk associated with these procedures.
A study using lower limbs from two cadavers to demonstrate the technique of adductor canal (AC) block found that the needle trajectory of the traditional approach led to impalement of the nerve to vastus medialis (NVM) in 33% of cases and direct contact with the nerve in another 22%.
Santhanam Suresh, MD, MBA, FAAP, FASA, has been named the 2023 Gaston Labat Award recipient and will present the Gaston Labat lecture at the ASRA Pain Medicine 48th Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting, April 22, 2023, in Hollywood, FL.
All patients undergoing procedures requiring anesthesia should be asked about cannabis use, according to guidelines released by the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine). The first U.S. guidelines on cannabis use in relation to surgery also notes regular use may worsen pain and nausea after surgery and increase the need for opioids.
Effectively treating chronic pain is challenging because pain experiences are highly subjective. To select the best treatments, physicians rely on patient perceptions, costly tests, and lengthy examinations.
Stanford University researchers recently conducted a systematic review of studies on cervical radiculopathy, commonly referred to as “pinched nerve,” to determine if steroids are a safe and effective treatment.
Epidural steroid injections and epidural blood patches are procedures performed by pain medicine physicians to deliver medication into the spine to provide quick pain relief to patients. During these procedures, a small amount of dye is injected to identify the epidural space, a small space in the spine.
Naltrexone was originally used to help treat alcohol and opioid abuse. However, at lose doses, naltrexone has been found to help with chronic pain stemming from various conditions including fibromyalgia, Crohn’s disease, diabetic neuropathy, axial low back pain, rheumatoid arthritis, and complex region pain syndrome.
Spinal cord stimulation (SCS) is an effective and proven treatment for chronic nerve pain, and it is often used to treat persistent pain after previous back surgery. However, before SCS can be implemented, physicians are required to conduct a prognostic “trial,” which carries an average price tag of $10,000.
A study has found that restorative neurostimulation continues to be effective in treating low-back pain caused by multifidus dysfunction after three years.
ASRA Pain Medicine has selected Jose De Andres, MD, PhD, FIPP, EDRA, EDPM, to receive the 2022 John J. Bonica Award. The honor recognizes an individual who has demonstrated outstanding contributions to the development, teaching, and practice of pain medicine in the tradition of John J. Bonica, MD, the pioneering anesthesiologist regarded as the founding father of pain relief medicine.
Pain medicine practitioners should take measures to reduce the use of iodinated contrast medium in interventional pain procedures due to the current shortage of iohexol. Clinicians are advised to consider using alternate image guidance, such as ultrasound, delaying non-urgent procedures, and using alternative contrast agents, according to guidance just released by ASRA Pain Medicine.
Researchers at Stanford University are working to identify how to reverse a rare but potentially fatal side effect of a commonly provided nerve block for patients receiving shoulder surgery. Given how common the surgery is, this work has vast implications.
Researchers at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, MD, are developing a drug delivery system that can deliver nanoparticles containing IGF-1 to injured nerves to help them heal.
Patients with traumatic injuries who are treated in the emergency room are susceptible to opioid-related adverse drug effects. Increased use of regional anesthesia in this setting can be helpful in the effort to reduce the use of opioids.
Ban C.H. Tsui, MD, has been selected to receive the 2022 Distinguished Service Award by the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine). Dr. Tsui is a professor in the department of Anesthesiology, Perioperative & Pain Medicine at Stanford University in Stanford, CA.
Brian Ilfeld, MD, has been named the 2022 Gaston Labat Award recipient and lecturer by the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine). Dr. Ilfeld is a professor of anesthesiology at the University of California San Diego, where he also serves as director of Regional Anesthesia Clinical Research and site director of the Outcomes Research Consortium. Given annually, the award honors Gaston P. Labat, MD (1843-1908), a pioneer in regional anesthesia and the first president of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia founded in 1923 (later abandoned and then “re-founded” in 1975). Labat’s Regional Anesthesia: Its Technique and Clinical Application was first published in 1922.
The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA Pain Medicine) 2022 Resident/Fellow of the Year will be awarded to Alexander Stone, MD, a regional anesthesia-acute pain medicine fellow at the Hospital for Special Surgery (HSS) in New York, NY.
Dr. Stone’s enthusiasm for the field is clear from his description of anesthesiology as “the greatest medical specialty” and from the six mentors who wrote letters of support for his nomination.
The American Society of Regional Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine (ASRA) has changed its abbreviated name to ASRA Pain Medicine to better reflect its membership community’s expertise and advancement of the entire spectrum of pain medicine.
Radiofrequency neurotomy is used to provide long-term relief for chronic neck and lower-back pain. The most common side effect is a sensation of burning, numbness, and shooting in the area where the needles were placed. This study found that steroids significantly reduce this side effect.
Researchers at Toronto Western Hospital in Canada have proposed a protocol for patients undergoing neuromodulation implantation that incorporates a short mental health checklist and pre-defined cut-offs on validated questionnaires to assess the need for an in-person assessment by a psychologist.
A new study found that kyphoplasty was less likely to be performed in Black patients, as well as in patients with dual Medicare and Medicaid eligibility, who tend to be lower-income older adults.
A retrospective study sought to determine demographic and clinical predictors of a successful response to dorsal root ganglion stimulation. A history of prior chronic opioid use was associated with significantly lower rates of responder status. Other characteristics such as age, gender, body mass index, and smoking showed no changes in responder status.
More than 11 million Americans experience chronic wrist pain. Percutaneous denervation, a procedure that interrupts the signal from the nerve to the brain, is emerging as a non-invasive alternative for chronic wrist pain. A recent study explored specific sites in the wrist enable effective use of this technique.
A new multi-society organizational consensus statement published in Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine establishes seven guiding principles for acute perioperative pain management to help institutions better care for patients having surgery.
Oscar de Leon-Casasola, MD, has been selected to receive the 2021 John J. Bonica Award. The honor recognizes an individual who has demonstrated outstanding contributions to the development, teaching and practice of pain medicine in the tradition of John J. Bonica, MD, the pioneering anesthesiologist regarded as the “founding father of pain relief medicine.”
The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine Presidential Scholar Award recognizes outstanding scientific and sustained contributions to regional anesthesia and acute or chronic pain medicine over the preceding 10 years.
With the reintroduction of powerful narcotic opioids to manage acute pain, surgery can be a make-or-break time for patients in recovery from opioid use disorder (OUD). For those using buprenorphine as part of their recovery process, the stress, anxiety and risk can be amplified if, as is often the case, they are directed to stop using the buprenorphine ahead of their surgery.