Breakfast Panels have always been a favorite of ASA Annual Meeting attendees, and this year will be no exception. The nine subspecialty societies have organized 10 outstanding panel discussions sure to provide food for thought while feeding the waistline. All Breakfast Panels are scheduled at the Las Vegas Hilton from 7:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. Eight panels will be held on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. Two will be part of the critical care medicine track, one on Saturday and one on Sunday. Tickets for your selections should be purchased as soon as your registration book arrives in the mail since these are popular sessions that usually sell out long before the meeting starts.

On Saturday, for those interested in critical care, ASA is sponsoring “Management of the Adult With Congenital Heart Disease,” moderated by Richard J. Levy, M.D. Panelists will discuss “Preoperative Issues — The Cardiologist’s Perspective,” “Intraoperative Approach — The Anesthesiologist’s Perspective” and “Postoperative Issues — The Intensivist’s Perspective.”

On Sunday the second critical care breakfast panel is sponsored by the American Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists. “CNS Resuscitation: What Works? What Doesn’t?” will be moderated by Steven J. Allen, M.D. Topics will include subarachnoid hemorrhage, coma following cardiopulmonary arrest and traumatic head injury.

On Monday morning the American Academy of Pediatrics will present “Anesthetic Concerns for ‘Healthy’ Kids” moderated by Juan F. Gutierrez, M.D. Obesity, upper-respiratory tract infections, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder and depression are the topics.

The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine will present “The Best Darn Breakfast in Vegas: How to Stack the Deck Against Neurologic and Infectious Complications While Beating the Odds on Neural Localization” moderated by Honorio T. Benzon, M.D. Infectious risks associated with interventional pain management, neural localization with ultrasound and “Neurologic Complications of Regional Anesthesia: Issues to be Addressed at the Upcoming ASRA 2005 Consensus Conference” are on the program.

The third Monday morning panel will be presented by the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology. Moderated by Alan C. Santos, M.D., “New Horizons in OB Anesthesia,” will include discussions about “Continuous Spinal Labor Analgesia: What Will the Future Be?,” “Long-Acting Intrathecal and Epidural Opioids for Post-Cesarean and Labor Analgesia,” “Genetics” and “Obstetric Anesthesia.”

Tuesday morning will bring “Perioperative Pain Management in Cardiothoracic Surgery,” sponsored by the Society for Cardiovascular Anesthesiologists. Moderated by Christina T. Mora Mangano, M.D., discussions will include “Pain After Surgery,” “Intrathecal/Epidural Techniques: Are the Benefits Worth the Risk?” and “Neuraxial Anesthesia in the Anticoagulated Patient Undergoing Cardiovascular Surgery.” Sure to incite some controversy!

The Society of Neurosurgical Anesthesia and Critical Care will present “Airway Management and Sedation Strategies for Awake Craniotomies” moderated by Mark H. Zornow, M.D. Presentations will include “Awake Craniotomy: An Overview,” “Sedation Strategies for Awake Craniotomy” and “Awake Craniotomies: What About the Airway?”

The third Tuesday panel will be presented by the Society for Education in Anesthesia. Discussion of “ACGME Core Competencies: Practical Implementation,” moderated by Berend Mets, M.B., Ph.D., will include presentations on “The RRC Reviewer’s Perspective During the Site Visit,” “The SEA Task Force on ACGME Competency Development Overview,” “Practice-Based Learning and Improvement: In Practice” and “Patient Care Competency Assessment: In Practice.”

The Wednesday morning panel is sponsored by the Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia. “Traffic Patterns: Roadblocks and Detours” will be moderated by Thomas W. Cutter, M.D., and include presentations on “The Problem Parent,” “Do Not Pass Go: Problems in the PACU” and “Haste Not, Waste Not: Productivity and Safety.”

Finally the Society for Technology in Anesthesia will present “PDAs for Point-of-Care Information in the Operating Room” moderated by Robert G. Loeb, M.D. The panel will include a “Presentation of Research Awards,” “PDA Databases for Patient Tracking and Billing,” “Knowledge Resources 1 – Prewritten Software” and “Knowledge Resources 2 – Accessing Local Information.”

These 10 very practical breakfast panels offer something for everyone. We hope you will enjoy them.

Susan L. Polk, M.D., is Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois.