he regional anesthesia learning track makes its debut at the ASA 2006 Annual Meeting in Chicago, which will take place on October 14-18, 2006. The learning track concept, which was introduced in 2004 and will have completed its full transition during the 2007 Annual Meeting, was developed to offer ASA members the opportunity to focus their Annual Meeting learning endeavors on a specific set of educational offerings designed around subspecialty content. Because learning tracks are scheduled horizontally over the five-day meeting, members can concentrate on a single subspecialty or, alternatively, mix and match content through a variety of venues.

The regional anesthesia track, which encompasses regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine topics, differentiates itself from previous ASA Annual Meeting constructs in that a committee of subspecialty content experts designed and coordinated the track’s entire educational program. ASA’s charge to the Scientific Content Subcommittee (SCS) on Regional Anesthesia was to create an overall educational program that balanced the comprehensive review of practical topics for the everyday practitioner with advanced, often controversial, issues of interest to the regional anesthesia or acute pain medicine specialist. Content decisions and speaker selection were influenced in part by suggestions from ASA members.

This year’s regional anesthesia track takes advantage of three new educational formats that have been introduced during the ASA Annual Meeting’s transition to the learning track system: a keynote general session, a point-counterpoint offering and two luncheon panels. The keynote general session “No Blood, No Pus, No Pain — Avoiding Hemorrhagic, Infectious and Neurologic Complications Associated With Regional Anesthesia” will take place from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. on Monday, October 16. During this session, James R. Hebl, M.D., Terese T. Horlocker, M.D., and Joseph M. Neal, M.D., will review and update the findings and recommendations from recent American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) practice advisories on serious complications associated with regional anesthesia.

The point/counterpoint session “Ultrasound, Perineural Catheters, Advances in Peripheral Nerve Stimulation: Advances or Added Expense?” intends to provide a forum for lively debate on the latest advances in nerve localization. The warriors are key players in the development of these new technologies, including Vincent W. Chan, M.D., Andre P. Boezaart, M.B., Ch.B., William F. Urmey, M.D., and Admir Hadzic, M.D. Despite their quiet, mild-mannered personalities, the debaters should nonetheless provide a modicum of entertainment to accompany their acknowledged expertise.

The SCS on Regional Anesthesia also is excited to present two luncheon panel sessions that will address new and controversial issues. Sunday’s subject is “Critical Pathways for Postoperative Analgesia After Orthopedic Surgery: Investing in Your Patient’s Future.” This topic highlights the innovative orthopedic surgery critical pathways recently developed at the Mayo Clinic. On Tuesday “Chloroprocaine Spinal Anesthesia: Current Status” will generate debate and hopefully find balance in the controversial resurrection of chloroprocaine for short-acting spinal anesthesia. Luncheon panels are ticketed events that include a fee to offset the cost of food.

Fifteen Refresher Course and Basic Science Review lectures are scheduled for Saturday through Tuesday. As always, some of the best academic regional anesthesiologists in the country have agreed to share their expertise on a variety of topics that range from basic science to new technologies to how to improve your daily regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine practice. Several new lecturers and topics are on the docket, including a focus on perineural catheters, peripheral nerve ultrasound and anatomy for the regionalist.

For those attendees seeking hands-on, practical experience, a team led by Andrew D. Rosenberg M.D., will present its popular “Peripheral Nerve Blocks” workshop on Monday and twice on Tuesday. John A. Dilger, M.D., and his experienced group will present their historically well-attended continuous nerve block workshop on Saturday morning.

The regional anesthesia track is rounded out by a variety of excellent offerings. Sunday’s ASRA Breakfast Panel (also requiring a small fee) will review “Regional Anesthesia and Anticoagulation: Beyond the ASRA Guidelines,” which intends to discuss how current advances in anticoagulation therapies are impacting neuraxial anesthesia and pain practice. A new addition to the program is a Clinical Forum on Saturday morning that examines the role of regional anesthesia in the care of trauma patients. Four panel sessions address topics that range from improving ambulatory anesthesia to discussing outcomes associated with the use of continuous perineural catheters to improving postoperative analgesia to a general update on peripheral nerve blocks. Finally, a number of Problem-Based Learning Discussions have regional anesthesia or acute pain medicine themes.

The 2006 regional anesthesia track offers ASA meeting attendees a wide variety of learning options — traditional lectures, hands-on workshops, small-group discussions and spirited debates. The SCS on Regional Anesthesia hopes that it has created a comprehensive program of both basic review for the occasional practitioner of regional anesthesia and also in-depth, up-to-date discussions that will capture the interest of the experienced subspecialist and academician. Our sincere wish is that the regional anesthesia track meets the needs of all those attending the ASA 2006 Annual Meeting. Your critical feedback, along with suggestions for 2007 topics, is welcome. Please direct comments to Joseph M. Neal, M.D, Chair, Scientific Content Subcommittee on Regional Anesthesia at <anejmn@vmmc.org>.

Joseph M. Neal, M.D., is a member of the anesthesiology faculty, Virginia Mason Medical Center and Clinical Professor of Anesthesiology, University of Washington, Seattle Washington.