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October 2001
Volume 65 |
Number 10
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WHAT'S NEW IN...
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| …Geriatric
Anesthesia: Society for the Advancement of Geriatric Anesthesia
Is New ‘Kid’ on the Block |
G. Alec Rooke, M.D.,
Ph.D., President
Society for the Advancement of Geriatric Anesthesia
At the ASA Annual Meeting last October
in San Francisco, approximately 20 ASA members met to form a society
dedicated to improving the perioperative care of the elderly patient.
I am happy to report that the Society for the Advancement of Geriatric
Anesthesia (SAGA) is now a functioning society. Between the meeting
and subsequent discussions, a number of formative details relating
to the new society have been resolved.
The goals of the society, as delineated
in the bylaws, are to enhance and improve all aspects of the perioperative
care of geriatric patients, to foster the education of both residents
in training and practitioners of anesthesiology, and to encourage
research on the care of the elderly patient coming to surgery.
Although at present the emphasis is on the anesthetic care of
the geriatric patient, it is recognized that successful perioperative
outcome requires appropriately tailored care from all the participating
caregivers. Medical professionals from any field are therefore
encouraged to join SAGA.
Officers were elected in San Francisco
with G. Alec Rooke, M.D., Ph.D., Shoreline, Washington, chosen
as President, Jeffrey H. Silverstein, M.D., Ph.D., West Nyack,
New Jersey, President-Elect; Terri G. Monk, M.D., Gainesville,
Florida, Secretary; and Sheila R. Barnett, M.D., Newton, Massachusetts,
Treasurer. Terms are for two years. Six at-large members of the
board will eventually be elected to staggered two-year terms with
the first three to be chosen at the 2001 Annual Meeting in New
Orleans.
In addition to meeting on an annual basis
, SAGA also is organizing educational programs at the annual meetings
of other societies. This strategy is based on the desire to reach
many more anesthesiologists than the current membership of SAGA.
The members of most anesthesiology societies provide care for
elderly patients, and that trend will only continue due to U.S.
population demographics. Forming affiliations with other societies
should enhance SAGA’s educational mission as well as provide
useful programs for the other societies. An additional goal is
to publicize SAGA in the anesthesiology community in the hope
of increasing membership.
Educational Programs
To date, SAGA has approached several societies about annual meeting
affiliation. A breakfast panel will be sponsored at the New York
State Society of Anesthesiologists Postgraduate Assembly (PGA)
meeting. The panel will be held Friday, December 7, 2001, from
8:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Bruce Vladeck, M.D., Director of the Institute
for Medical Practice at Mount Sinai Hospital, New York, will speak
on Medicare policy and perioperative outcomes. Elizabeth Clark,
M.D., a geriatrician at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, will speak
on perioperative care of the elderly. Dr. Rooke will speak on
the geriatric cardiovascular system. Dr. Silverstein, who organized
the panel, will discuss the effects of anesthesia on postoperative
brain function. On the afternoon of December 10 at the PGA, there
will be another panel on geriatric anesthesia. Although not sponsored
by SAGA, Dr. Monk has organized a panel on the special needs of
the elderly surgical patient. Speakers include Dr. Silverstein,
who will present the global picture on the perioperative care
of the elderly; Howard S. Smith, M.D., Boston, Massachusetts,
who will discuss perioperative pain control; Diane E. Meier, M.D.,
a geriatrician and ethicist at Mount Sinai who will discuss palliative
care; and Dr. Monk, who will discuss postoperative cognitive dysfunction.
The Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia (SAMBA)
also has graciously offered SAGA the opportunity to provide a
panel at the SAMBA Annual Meeting in May 2002. Dr. Monk will moderate
the panel with talks tentatively planned on the outpatient anesthesia
implications of the aging process (Stan Muravchick, M.D., Ph.D.),
preoperative assessment of the geriatric outpatient (Lee A. Fleisher,
M.D.) and the use of peripheral nerve blocks in geriatric outpatients
(F. Kayser Enneking, M.D.). SAGA has also submitted a proposal
for the 2003 SAMBA meeting.
Annual Meeting
The next annual meeting of SAGA will occur in conjunction with
the ASA Annual Meeting this fall in New Orleans. The meeting will
take place at 7 p.m. Friday, October 12, 2001, in La Galeries
2 and 3 at the Marriott Hotel. In addition to a business meeting
where the progress of the society will be discussed and at-large
board members will be elected, we will have an invited speaker.
Jeffrey W. Dwyer, Ph.D., will speak on “The Future Is Aging:
Demographic, Policy and Clinical Implications.” Dr. Dwyer
is Professor and Director of the Division of Aging in the Department
of Health Policy and Epidemiology at the University of Florida-Gainesville.
His areas of expertise include long-term care, health services
research and the health care needs and problems of older, disadvantaged
populations. There will be no charge for attending the meeting.
Future Plans for Web Site
At present, there is no SAGA Web site; however, one is in the
planning stages. Anyone interested in learning more about SAGA,
joining the Society or attending the October 12 meeting is encouraged
to contact me at <rooke@u.washington.edu>
or by mail at S-112-ANES, VAPSHCS, 1660 S. Columbian Way, Seattle,
WA 98108.
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G.
Alec Rooke, M.D., Ph.D., is Professor of Anesthesiology, University
of Washington and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health
Care System, Seattle, Washington. |
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