SA saw quite a few changes in the communications department this year. As the new director of communications for ASA, I joined the team just weeks before the ASA Annual Meeting. The Annual Meeting was a terrific opportunity to get myself up to speed, jump in and get started!

Each year, ASA staff and physicians from the Section on Annual Meeting select a handful of presentations from among the hundreds of scientific abstracts submitted for the meeting. The communications department then produces a media kit featuring those topics. Designed to engage and interest reporters, the kit supplies them with information that is new, useful to the general public, and illustrates the breadth and variety of research in which anesthesiologists are involved.

Consumer Topics Bring Much Interest
This year, pain and the management thereof was the hottest topic, along with several others that every reporter wanted to know more and more about. From chili peppers to vitamin D, the variety of research proved that reporters are interested in stories that will apply to the public. The 2007 Annual Meeting media kit featured the following releases:

Drug Derived From Chili Peppers May Reduce Acute Pain After Surgery: This study finds that purified capsaicin derived from chili peppers can provide pain relief without clinically important side effects.

Driving Abilities Not Impaired By Moderate, Long-Term Pain Medication Use: Moderate, long-term use of opioid pain relievers does not impair a person’s ability to drive. Findings reveal that patients with long-term chronic pain may become tolerant to the medication side-effects that could impair function.

Pregabalin Decreases Pain, Expedites Movement in Knee Replacement Patients: The administration of the drug pregabalin before and after knee replacement surgery can significantly reduce patient pain and increase mobility, according to new study results.

Nicotine Patch Decreases Postsurgical Pain: Typically used to help smokers reduce their dependency on nicotine, new study findings indicate that the nicotine patch is also effective in reducing pain after surgery. Patients who self-administered the nicotine patch had significantly less pain medication in the postoperative period.

Patient Counting During Anesthetic Injections Distracts, Limits Pain: Patients who counted aloud during intravenous propofol injection experienced and recalled less pain at injection, contributing to new understanding of the means of pain control and pain relief.

Vitamin D Inadequacy May Exacerbate Chronic Pain: While low levels of vitamin D can cause pain and muscle weakness, new study results indicate that vitamin D inadequacy may also contribute to chronic and ongoing pain, marking the first time a prevalence of vitamin D inadequacy has been established in a diverse group of chronic pain patients.

Patient “Passport” With Anesthesia History Can Help Ensure Optimal Care: Patients who, upon discharge, receive a “passport” completed by health care providers outlining their anesthetic experience better understand the procedures they have undergone and can learn to avoid surgical or anesthetic complications in the future.

Regional Block Expedites Movement, Limits Pain for Months After Wrist Surgery: This study reports that wrist surgery patients who received a regional anesthetic experienced less pain and regained mobility of their hand and wrist faster than patients who received general anesthetics.

Acupuncture Diminishes Acute Postoperative Pain: A review of 15 studies on the effectiveness of acupuncture to reduce postoperative pain when used along with pain medication finds that patients receiving acupuncture experience significantly less pain, use less opioid medication and have fewer side effects, making acupuncture an effective adjunct treatment for postoperative pain management.

Family-Centered Care More Effective for Managing Children’s Pain: Chronic pain can affect 45 percent of children and adolescents from ages 10 to 18. Study findings indicate that treating pediatric pain with a multidisciplinary approach focused on improving and restoring a child’s and family’s quality of life can result in a significant reduction of chronic pain intensity.

Media attention was impressive, and the following items were featured in the press (during and after the meeting):

Drug Derived From Chili Peppers May Reduce Acute Pain After Surgery

• HealthDay News, circulation 4,000, Internet and Intranet Web sites, more than 100 daily newspapers and hundreds of television and radio stations nationwide.

• The Wall Street Journal-Health Blog. The Wall Street Journal-Online, circulation 240,000.

• Associated Press, wire service. The AP article appeared in more than 90 publications and Web sites, including:

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution, circulation 365,011

• The Modesto Bee (Modesto, California), circulation 83,387

• The Baltimore Examiner, circulation 250,000

• MSNBC.com, circulation 2,400,000

• WBBM-TV (Chicago)

• FOXnews.com

• Miami Herald, circulation 306,689

• KGO-TV (San Francisco)

• WTVO-TV (Rockford, Illinois)

• KSTP-TV (Saint Paul, Minnesota)

• Medical Device Week

Nicotine Patch Decreases Post-Surgical Pain

• United Press International, wire service with circulation/site visitors of 1,662,193

• News-Medical.Net

• Healthday News (appeared in a combined article looking at this and the results of “Nicotine Patch Decreases Post-Surgical Pain.” Article appeared in more than 25 publications and Web sites, including:

• Washington Post-Online, circulation 200,000

• drkoop.com

• Springfield News-Sun (Springfield, Ohio), circulation 31,000

• Medical Device Daily, circulation 500

• CBC News (Canada)

• Austin American Statesman, circulation 174,734

• Atlanta Journal Constitution, circulation 365,011

• Forbes.com, circulation 342, 933

• U.S. News & World Report, circulation 2,022,383

• Courier Mail (Australia)

• Daily Telegraph (Australia)

Driving Abilities not Impaired by Moderate, Long-Term Pain Medication Use

• United Press International, circulation 1,662,193

• Medical News Today, circulation 2,000,000

Pregabalin Decreases Pain, Expedites Movement in Knee Replacement Patients

• Ivanhoe Newswire, client base of more than 250 television network affiliates in the United States, reaching 80 million households every day.

• Medical News Today, circulation 2,000,000

• HealthDay News. This article appeared in:

• The Marshall News Messenger (Marshall, Texas), circulation 6, 871

• Washington Post Online, circulation 200,000

• Springfield New-Sun (Springfield, Ohio), circulation 31,000

• National Women’s Health Information Center

• The Daily Sentinel, circulation 31,495

• U.S. News & World Report, circulation 2,022,383

• PharmaLive

Patient Counting During Anesthetic Injections Distracts, Limits Pain

• News-Medical.Net

Vitamin D Inadequacy May Exacerbate Chronic Pain

• United Press International, wire service with circulation/site visitors 1,662,193.

• Ivanhoe Newswire, client base of more than 250 television network affiliates in the United States, reaching 80 million households every day.

• Nutraingredients.com, circulation 310,000

• Foodnavigator.com, circulation 310,000

• Newsmax.com, circulation 400,000

Patient “Passport” With Anesthesia History Can Help Ensure Optimal Care

• Medical News Today, circulation 2,000,000

Acupuncture Diminishes Acute Postoperative Pain

• Globe & Mail (Toronto), circulation 326,248
• HealthDay News, circulation 4,000, Internet and Intranet Web sites, more than 100 daily newspapers and hundreds of television and radio stations nationwide.

In addition to the media kit, each year we feature the AudioLine radio interview program distributed by News Broadcast Network, which provides the public with news on a wide variety of anesthesiology-related topics. This year, participating doctors and topics included:

• Eske S. Aasvang, M.D., “Effect of Single Dose of Purified Capsaicin on Postherniotomy Pain.”

• Jessica A. Alexander, M.D., “Nutraceuticals” and “Stress Management.”

• Asokumar Buvanendran, M.D., “Opiods and Driving.”

• Brenda G. Fahy, M.D., “Evidence-Based Medicine in Perioperative Care — Does It Help Us Improve Care?”

• Tong J. Gan, M.D., “Acupuncture.”

• Ashraf S. Habib, M.D., “Trasdermal Nicotine for Analgesia.”

• Tomoko Higashi, M.D., “Effect of Distraction by Counting Aloud on Pain at Injection of MCT/LCT Propofol.”

• W. Michael Hooten, M.D., “Vitamin D Inadequacy May Exacerbate Chronic Pain.”

• Tricia Meyer, PharmD, M.S., “Anesthesia Passport, Providing Information to the Patient on Their Anesthetic Experiences.”

• Charles W. Otto, M.D., “New Approaches to Resuscitation.”

• John E. Tetzlaff, M.D., “Anesthesiology Education (Teaching, Assessment, Competence).”

The audio is distributed to the hometowns of the interviewed doctors, including major metropolitan areas; the 45- to 60-second features reached an estimated audience of 9,267,000 radio listeners.

The Journal and ASA Combine Efforts
In addition to the Annual Meeting public relations efforts, in July, the editors of the journal Anesthesiology and the ASA Communications Department launched a formal news release program designed to share medical information with the media and, ultimately, the public on research studies featured in the journal and conducted by ASA members.

Since the monthly program began, media coverage has been tremendous across the country, including placement in print, television and the Web as well as Internet publication postings and international coverage.

An example of a recent study that received extensive coverage is Dose-Dependent Effects of Smoked Cannabis on Capsaicin-Induced Pain and Hyperalgesia in Healthy Volunteers.

This release was picked up by the Associated Press and related stories appeared on BBC News, Fox News, MedPage Today, Health Day and Health Highlights on Healthday.com

Given all the exciting medical studies that ASA members are conducting around the country and the world, the journal news release program offers members additional opportunities to show off their breadth of knowledge and research.

Teamwork Makes All the Difference
While we cannot always predict the interest and media needs during our Annual Meeting, it is important to know that the behind-the-scenes work prior to the meeting, at the meeting and after the meeting make the difference. As a team, the ASA Communications Department prepares, contacts and follows up with interested media. Without the follow-up and essential legwork, the success we see each year would not be possible.

Dawn M. Glossa, M.S., manages communications and marketing for ASA in the Park Ridge, Illinois, office.