American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine May 2015 - (Page 6)

Editorial - in Nabil's Corner The Value Within What has ASRA done for me lately? You may have asked yourself this question in an attempt to explore the benefits of membership. I know I did! For me, in addition to all the educational service offerings, ASRA is the community I belong to, where others and I speak the same Nabil Elkassabany, MD, MSCE language, have similar interests, Editor, ASRA News and can discuss how to improve the service we provide to our patients. I have been able to connect to mentors who volunteer their time, effort, and advice in a very unselfish way. For the past 3 years, Edward Mariano and a team of dedicated individuals have brought the ASRA News to a new frontier and made it an interesting read for all ASRA members. The newsletter has become a window through which we can discuss issues that are sometimes beyond the scope of traditional scientific and academic periodicals. It has become a venue where we can shed light on current events and topics of interest to our readers. I kept going back and forth about what I wanted to share with you. One of the main themes that I believe in as a physician specializing in regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine is that the value of what we offer to our patients goes beyond the needling techniques and the skill set we develop through training and practice. As one of my mentors, Andre Boezaart, once said, "A block is not a one-night stand, it is a ring you put around your finger." It may be a simple metaphor, and for sure may generate some laughter if you are giving a lecture or a presentation, but its content and meaning are deep. It speaks to the commitment we make to our patients to improve their perioperative experience. This sense of commitment is what we need to teach our residents and fellows. It also emphasizes the importance of planning for the whole continuum, from the perioperative period and beyond. An integral part of the service we offer should be follow-up and data collection. Highlighting the patients' perspective and how they perceive our care should be a major focus of research and academic pursuit. It is incumbent on us to define the value of what we do, spread this message, and talk about it in different settings. These goals are more important now than ever, especially in the era of the "pay for performance" and Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems, in which patient satisfaction is a benchmark for the quality of care provided. "I am looking forward to hearing your comments, ideas, and suggestions on how to improve on your ASRA newsletter and how to take it to the next level." You can imagine that Ed, with his attention to detail and his tireless effort, is definitely a hard act to follow. The good news is that he and the newsletter team have set up a system that we can leverage to bring this product to you on time, every time. I am privileged to take over the position of Editor of ASRA News with such an outstanding newsletter team in place. I would like to give credit to Steve Orebaugh and Kevin Vorenkamp, section editors for regional anesthesia and chronic pain, respectively. Both of them have made my transition to the new role easy and seamless. I also want to welcome Melanie Donnelly to the leadership team of the newsletter as she takes over the role of the section editor for regional anesthesia as Steve's term ends. I am hoping we can keep the newsletter's success streak going and continue to present material you are interested in and look forward to. Above all, I am looking forward to hearing your comments, ideas, and suggestions on how to improve on your ASRA newsletter and how to take it to the next level. Admittedly, writing my first editorial for ASRA News was a struggle. 6 In this issue of ASRA News, we bring to you a couple of timely articles discussing the use of regional analgesic techniques outside the realm of conventional surgical indications. The first article discusses the use of regional analgesic techniques for treating pain related to rib fractures, and the second explores the emerging role of peripheral nerve blocks in palliative care. Both articles add another dimension to the potential value we bring to patients as a subspecialty. As the subspecialty of regional anesthesiology and acute pain medicine evolves along the path of fellowship accreditation, we can look back and learn from the experiences of its older "brother"-pain medicine. Magda Anitescu and David Walega take us through the evolution of the fellowship-matching process. On another front, we present to you the cutting-edge research on how pharmacogenetics plays a role in patient responses to certain opioids and pain management strategies. Last but not least, Matthew Kaufman writes about his rather controversial case series published in 2013 in which he reports on the association between interscalene blocks and chronic diaphragmatic dysfunction. In his newsletter article, he discusses American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine 2015

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine May 2015

President’s Message
Editorial
Pharmacogenetics in Monitoring of Chronic Pain Patients: Are We There Yet?
Phrenic Nerve Injury and Interscalene Nerve Block: Have We Learned Anything From the Surgical Treatment of Over 150 Cases of Diaphragmatic Paralysis From Multiple Etiologies?
An Exercise in Negotiation: The Success of the Pain Medicine Fellowship Match
Regional Analgesia for Patients with Acute Rib Fractures
Application of Regional Anesthetic Techniques for Cancer Pain

American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine May 2015