American Society of Anesthesiologists Announces Collaboration with Digital Surgery™ to Deliver an Innovative Educational Activity in Neuromuscular Blockade Recovery

CHICAGO – The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and Digital Surgery announced today the launch of a new simulation app activity: Train-of-Four (TOF) Quantitative Monitoring for Neuromuscular Blockade (NMB). This simulation, supported by an educational grant from Merck, is part of the Society’s ongoing commitment to education on the importance of neuromuscular monitoring. Although optimal neuromuscular blockade and recovery is widely recognized as an important strategy to help prevent complications in patients postoperatively, several knowledge and practice gaps remain. 

“We’re excited to be working with Digital Surgery to fill a need in the medical community,” said ASA President Linda Mason, M.D., FASA. “Delivering high caliber education in a format that is easily accessible to all members of the anesthesia care team is crucial, and one that will have a great effect on patient safety and contribute to more successful outcomes.”

Digital Surgery, working closely with ASA and its faculty, developed the simulation to demonstrate the correct steps and processes by which quantitative NMB monitoring is performed. Due to the low level of adoption of NMB monitoring, this activity seeks to offer physician anesthesiologists, anesthesiologist assistants, nurse anesthetists, post anesthesia care unit (PACU) nurses, perioperative pharmacists, and ambulatory or operating room care team members with tools to reinforce the importance of NMB and recovery. The simulation contributes to a holistic and blended learning experience, where learners can rehearse the TOF procedure, from anywhere and at any time through Digital Surgery’s mobile-based and academically validated app, Touch Surgery. Other complementary learning modalities―didactic and audio content accessible through ASA’s Education Center―will supplement the learning experience. Importantly, learners who complete the simulation’s learning modules and pass assessments will be eligible for continuing medical education (CME) credits.

“We were honored to work with the world’s leading anesthesia society on this important educational initiative,” said Jean Nehme, M.D., CEO and co-founder of Digital Surgery. “We look forward to continuing to support ASA as it seeks innovative educational solutions to provide accessible and holistic training opportunities to its members.” 

About the American Society of Anesthesiologists
Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) is an educational, research and scientific society with more than 53,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology. ASA is committed to ensuring that physician anesthesiologists evaluate and supervise the medical care of patients before, during, and after surgery to provide the highest quality and safest care that every patient deserves.

For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists online at asahq.org. To learn more about the role physician anesthesiologists play in ensuring patient safety, visit asahq.org/WhenSecondsCount. Like ASA on Facebook; follow ASALifeline on Twitter.

About Digital Surgery
Digital Surgery is a technology company working at the intersection of digital technology and clinical excellence in surgery. The company’s flagship product, Touch Surgery, has been academically validated in more than 15 publications and downloaded more than 3.5 million times globally. Surgeons and healthcare professionals use the Touch Surgery app to learn, simulate and rehearse for procedures in the clinical environment. It also provides a testing platform enabling data measurement of competence for safe and effective procedural application. Touch Surgery’s interactive simulation library is built with industry, societies and universities, with a goal to cognitively map procedures. The company is based in London, UK and has operations in North America. For more information, please visit: www.digitalsurgery.com.