Society for Pediatric Anesthesia Hitting a Growth Spurt

am honored to provide this update on the activities of the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia (SPA). The overall missions of SPA continue to be patient care, education and research. SPA seeks to advocate on behalf of children, improve their perioperative care and address the professional needs of all practitioners who provide that care. The Society continues to grow in terms of membership and the number and scope of its activities. Over the past year, we added more than 100 new members; the total number of full-time members is now approaching 1,800.

By the time you read this, we will have just returned from our annual Winter Meeting, which was held this year in Sanibel, Florida. Sponsored jointly by SPA and the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Anesthesiology, more than 450 attendees drawn from a wide variety of practice types participated in two and a half days of lectures, workshops, refresher courses and problem-based learning discussions (and perhaps spent a little bit of time at the beach or the pool).

Lecture topics this year included an overview of medical mistakes, why we make them, and how we can prevent them; an update on central nervous system and awareness monitors; a review of key safety/quality practices that we may not have incorporated into our practice routines; a presentation by a SPA member and commercial pilot on cockpit crew resource management and its applicability to pediatric anesthesiology practice; and optimal management of the formerly premature infant undergoing hernia repair. Other features included the top-10 “don’t miss” papers of the current year in different subspecialty areas as well as oral and poster abstract presentations.

The number of clinically relevant workshop and refresher course offerings continues to increase, with the topics based upon member and attendee requests. A pediatric advanced life support course (leading to PALS certification) is another frequent offering. Overall this meeting has become known for its friendly, interactive and comfortable atmosphere.

The annual Fall Meeting of SPA occurs in conjunction with the ASA Annual Meeting (on the Friday just prior). The program for this year features experts on the mechanisms of acute and chronic pain, advances in clinical treatments for chronic and acute pediatric pain and updates on electronic record keeping and quality assurance methodologies for pediatric anesthesiology practice. Although more than a year away, we also would like you to plan on attending the October 2007 SPA Fall Meeting, which is being jointly planned and produced by SPA and the Association of Paediatric Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland. The program includes experts from both sides of the Atlantic presenting the latest information on topics ranging from the short- and long-term effects of anesthetics on the immature nervous system to development and behavior to the use of newer drugs such as dexmedetomidine in infants and children. Current information about any of SPA’s upcoming meetings can be found at the Society’s Web site <www.pedsanesthesia.org>.

In addition to the annual meetings, the Society produces a member newsletter four times per year that offers summaries and critical analyses of key articles, pro-con debates and clinical reviews. In the coming year, we will introduce a regular program of Web-based educational modules to provide members with an effective, convenient and efficient way to garner needed continuing medical education (CME) credits and to help meet their pediatric anesthesia maintenance of certification needs. Also within the coming year, we plan to be able to directly forward CME credits that members earn from SPA activities to their own personal Maintenance of Certification in Anesthesiology (MOCA) account at the American Board of Anesthesiology, hopefully making the whole process at least a little easier. SPA also intends to produce a pediatric anesthesiology educational module that will be available to members to help them meet the requirements for maintenance of certification.

A large group of SPA members has been diligently working to establish quality assurance (QA)/complication indicators and methodologies that are specific to pediatric anesthesiology. The goal is to be able to provide Society members with a validated system that will help them meet QA and regulatory requirements that are arising in their own practices. A common system also will offer the possibility to establish a national registry with its obvious potential to improve safety and quality in pediatric anesthesiology care. Another group, including a sizable number of pediatric anesthesiology fellowship program directors, has made great progress developing a content outline, syllabus and specific educational modules for the training of pediatric anesthesiology fellows. Both of these substantial efforts should be realized within the coming year.

SPA continues to cosponsor a yearly pediatric anesthesiology young investigator award with the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER). In addition SPA members, working with FAER’s Pediatrics Research Council, are trying to define areas of deficient basic knowledge and key research questions in pediatric anesthesiology; an open forum on these issues was held at the 2005 Winter Meeting last February in Miami Beach, Florida. SPA has taken a leadership role in the establishment of the new Congenital Cardiac Anesthesia Society (CCAS), which will be a part of SPA. We look forward to the educational benefits and other synergies that will result from this relationship; some of these will include a one-day meeting every other year, before the beginning of the SPA Winter Meeting, devoted to congenital heart disease as well as other contributions on the Web site and at the annual meetings. More information about this development, as well as membership information for both SPA and CCAS, can be found at the SPA Web site.

SPA continues to have a very active Committee for International Education and Service, along with a substantial number of members who provide pediatric anesthesiology services and training overseas. In addition to these efforts, SPA has committed to supporting pediatric anesthesiology training in developing countries. To this end, in conjunction with the World Federation of Societies of Anaesthesiologists, we are excited to be sponsoring the training of a pediatric anesthesiology fellow in a program in Vellore, India.

As you can see, it has been a pretty busy year. We seek to serve — and value the involvement and input from — all anesthesiologists who are involved with the care of infants and children. On a personal note, it continues to be a tremendous honor and privilege for me to represent the members of this Society.

Francis X. McGowan, Jr., M.D., is Professor of Anesthesia (Pediatrics), Chief, Division of Cardiac Anesthesia, and Director, Anesthesia/Critical Care Medicine Research Laboratory, Children’s Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts.