American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 10

The European Society of Anaesthesiology & Pain Therapy (ESRA) Ambassador
Program: Establishing a "Lingua Franca" Across Europe and the World
INTRODUCTION
From early days to modern times,
pain was, is, and will continue to
be the most feared experience of
the human race. As we continue
to understand pain and how
it is processed in the human
mind, oftentimes we neglect to
recognize that its expression is
heavily influenced by cultural,
ethnic, and regional heritage.
These factors may explain why a
simple appendectomy requires only
acetaminophen for postoperative
pain management versus heavy
opioid consumption in different
parts of the world or by what
miracle a 90-year-old grandma,
who lost 3 inches of height to
compression fractures, still dances

at her great-grandson's wedding while a 50-year-old 1,000 miles
away is confined to her bed because of morbid obesity and severe
osteoarthritis.

Magda Anitescu, MD, PhD
Associate Professor
Director, Pain Medicine
Fellowship Program
Section Chief, Pain Management
Department of Anesthesia and
Critical care
University of Chicago Medicine
Chicago, IL

THE AMBASSADOR PROGRAM: ESRA PERSPECTIVE
ESRA was formed in the early
1980s. The society has been
hugely successful in teaching
and promoting the use of
regional anesthesia and pain
management in Europe. However,
uptake of regional anesthesia
and pain therapy has been
variable throughout Europe
because of different health
care systems and historical,
social, and political reasons.
Marc Van de Velde, MD, PhD, EDRA
Access to the required equipment
Professor of Anesthesiology
and technology, along with a
Department of
lack of teaching, further limited
Cardiovascular
Sciences
its widespread use, especially
Chair,
Department
of
Anesthesiology
in former Eastern European
University Hospital Gasthuisberg-
countries.
University of Leuven (K.U. Leuven)
ESRA Ambassador Program Chair
Leuven, Belgium

Soon after ESRA was formed, a
so-called "Ambassador Program"
was initiated in the 1990s.
The remit of this program was to facilitate teaching and training
in regional anesthesia and pain medicine in parts of Europe
in which uptake was low. In addition, the goal was to involve
anesthesiologists from these countries to participate and become
more actively involved with ESRA in various ways. Slobodan
Gligorijevic, former ESRA president, led the Ambassador Program
for several years, followed by his successor, Marc Van de Velde.

10

Early on in our medical training, we are taught that every patient
is unique. He or she may have variable presentations for the
same disease or respond differently to the same medication.
This is especially true for many of our chronic pain syndromes.
It is interesting to observe how pain is managed in different
parts of the world, specifically in Europe, where each of these
countries have different views, expressions, and treatment
patterns for pain management. In an attempt to establish a better
communication-a "Lingua Franca" (a common language between
physicians across Europe in the field of regional anesthesia and
pain medicine)-the European Society of Regional Anaesthesia &
Pain Therapy (ESRA) introduced the Ambassador Program, currently
led by Dr Marc Van De Velde. His commitment and involvement
in this initiative have enhanced the education and training of
physicians to be experts in regional anesthesia and acute and
chronic pain management.

Patrick Narchii will be the next chair of the Ambassador Program
for 2017.
The program helped develop and financially supported scientific
meetings in various Eastern European countries such as Poland,
Slovenia, Croatia, and the Baltic States. Cadaver courses were
initiated in Ljubljana. However, uptake of regional anesthesia
remained fairly limited despite the huge success of these meetings.
The ESRA Council and Board realized that more was needed. A
system was set up to not only start up regional anesthesia locally
but also to permanently anchor a system of teaching and support.
A local ESRA-affiliated regional anesthesia and pain therapy society
was formed in Eastern European countries; the newly formed
professional association followed ESRA organization bylaws, board,
and democratic structure. Interested anesthesiologists, usually
from academic institutes, were approached to initiate collaborative
efforts. Once a democratic structure was in place, an inaugural
meeting was held. The formation of a society/zone was supported
by the ESRA Secretary General and the ESRA office to guarantee
uniform bylaws throughout different zones. ESRA provided financial
support to organize the first inaugural meeting. Additional funds
retained by participants registration remained with the local society
and created a start-up fund. All participants to the local inaugural
meeting received a free ESRA membership, including all benefits
for 1 year. Each newly formed zone could send a democratically
elected representative to the ESRA council.
Many new zones were created, such as Slovenia, Croatia, the
Baltic States, Romania, and Slovakia, and discussions to form other

American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine
2017



Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017

No label
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - No label
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 2
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 3
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 4
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 5
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 6
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 7
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 8
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 9
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 10
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 11
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 12
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 13
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 14
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 15
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 16
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 17
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 18
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 19
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 20
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 21
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 22
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 23
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 24
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 25
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 26
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 27
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 28
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 29
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 30
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 31
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 32
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 33
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 34
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 35
American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine August 2017 - 36
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/18-04
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/18-3
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/18-2
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/18-1
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/17-4
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/17-3
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/17-2
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/17-1
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/16-4
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/16-3
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/16-2
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/16-1
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/15-4
http://www.brightcopy.net/allen/asra/15-3
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/asra/15-2
https://www.nxtbook.com/allen/asra/15-1
https://www.nxtbookmedia.com