A modern roadmap for the use of simulation in regional anesthesiology training.

Purpose Of Review: A variety of educational modalities are used to teach regional anesthesia. Simulation is an educational tool that facilitates hands-on learning in a well tolerated, reproducible environment, eliminating potential harm to patients during the process of learning. Available literature and expert consensus statements support customizing simulation programs according to the level of training and experience of the learners.

Developing a Real-Time Electroencephalogram-Guided Anesthesia-Management Curriculum for Educating Residents: A Single-Center Randomized Controlled Trial.

Background: Different anesthetic drugs and patient factors yield unique electroencephalogram (EEG) patterns. Yet, it is unclear how best to teach trainees to interpret EEG time series data and the corresponding spectral information for intraoperative anesthetic titration, or what effect this might have on outcomes.

Methods: We developed an electronic learning curriculum (ELC) that covered EEG spectrogram interpretation and its use in anesthetic titration.

A Pilot Project Using Eye-Tracking Technology to Design a Standardised Anaesthesia Workspace.

Objective: Maximising safe handoff procedures ensures patient safety. Anaesthesiology practices have primarily focused on developing better communication tools. However, these tools tend to ignore the physical layout of the anaesthesia workspace itself.

Using eye tracking technology to compare the effectiveness of malignant hyperthermia cognitive aid design.

Background: Malignant hyperthermia is a rare but potentially fatal complication of anesthesia, and several different cognitive aids designed to facilitate a timely and accurate response to this crisis currently exist. Eye tracking technology can measure voluntary and involuntary eye movements, gaze fixation within an area of interest, and speed of visual response and has been used to a limited extent in anesthesiology.

Methods: With eye tracking technology, we compared the accessibility of five malignant hyperthermia cognitive aids by collecting gaze data from twelve volunteer participants.

Preliminary Experience Using Eye-Tracking Technology to Differentiate Novice and Expert Image Interpretation for Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anesthesia.

Objectives: Objective measures are needed to guide the novice's pathway to expertise. Within and outside medicine, eye tracking has been used for both training and assessment. We designed this study to test the hypothesis that eye tracking may differentiate novices from experts in static image interpretation for ultrasound (US)-guided regional anesthesia.

Sepsis in the Operating Room: A Simulation Case for Perioperative Providers.

Introduction: Sepsis should be included in the differential of any patient with unexplained organ dysfunction, whether or not an obvious infection is initially detected. Perioperative providers frequently care for patients with sepsis. This simulation case challenges participants to recognize and manage a presentation of postoperative sepsis, providing an opportunity to discuss the rationale behind sepsis management during debriefing.

Upgrading a Social Media Strategy to Increase Twitter Engagement During the Spring Annual Meeting of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.

Microblogs known as "tweets" are a rapid, effective method of information dissemination in health care. Although several medical specialties have described their Twitter conference experiences, Twitter-related data in the fields of anesthesiology and pain medicine are sparse. We therefore analyzed the Twitter content of 2 consecutive spring meetings of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine using publicly available online transcripts.

Comparative-Effectiveness of Simulation-Based Deliberate Practice Versus Self-Guided Practice on Resident Anesthesiologists' Acquisition of Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anesthesia Skills.

Background And Objectives: Simulation-based education strategies to teach regional anesthesia have been described, but their efficacy largely has been assumed. We designed this study to determine whether residents trained using the simulation-based strategy of deliberate practice show greater improvement of ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia (UGRA) skills than residents trained using self-guided practice in simulation.

Methods: Anesthesiology residents new to UGRA were randomized to participate in either simulation-based deliberate practice (intervention) or self-guided practice (control).

Twitter-Augmented Journal Club: Educational Engagement and Experience So Far.

Social media is a nascent medical educational technology. The benefits of Twitter include (1) easy adoption; (2) access to experts, peers, and patients across the globe; (3) 24/7 connectivity; (4) creation of virtual, education-based communities using hashtags; and (5) crowdsourcing information using retweets. We report on a novel Twitter-augmented journal club for anesthesia residents: its design, implementation, and impact.

Evaluation of a Standardized Program for Training Practicing Anesthesiologists in Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anesthesia Skills.

Objectives: Practicing anesthesiologists have generally not received formal training in ultrasound-guided perineural catheter insertion. We designed this study to determine the efficacy of a standardized teaching program in this population.

Methods: Anesthesiologists in practice for 10 years or more were recruited and enrolled to participate in a 1-day program: lectures and live-model ultrasound scanning (morning) and faculty-led iterative practice and mannequin-based simulation (afternoon).

Simulation in teaching regional anesthesia: current perspectives.

The emerging subspecialty of regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine represents an opportunity to evaluate critically the current methods of teaching regional anesthesia techniques and the practice of acute pain medicine. To date, there have been a wide variety of simulation applications in this field, and efficacy has largely been assumed. However, a thorough review of the literature reveals that effective teaching strategies, including simulation, in regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine are not established completely yet.

Simulation-based mastery learning with deliberate practice improves clinical performance in spinal anesthesia.

Introduction. Properly performing a subarachnoid block (SAB) is a competency expected of anesthesiology residents. We aimed to determine if adding simulation-based deliberate practice to a base curriculum improved performance of a SAB.

Preliminary study of ergonomic behavior during simulated ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia using a head-mounted display.

A head-mounted display provides continuous real-time imaging within the practitioner's visual field. We evaluated the feasibility of using head-mounted display technology to improve ergonomics in ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia in a simulated environment. Two anesthesiologists performed an equal number of ultrasound-guided popliteal-sciatic nerve blocks using the head-mounted display on a porcine hindquarter, and an independent observer assessed each practitioner's ergonomics (eg, head turning, arching, eye movements, and needle manipulation) and the overall block quality based on the injectate spread around the target nerve for each procedure.