“Outcomes beyond the Operating Room”

The American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) and its journal Anesthesiology announce the 19th annual Journal Symposium, to be held at the ASA Annual Meeting on October 19, 2010, in San Diego, California. The 2010 Journal Symposium will highlight up-and-coming and noteworthy concepts in anesthesia research and clinical practice.

Anesthesiologists have generally considered their work done and successful if patients were well a day or two after surgery. However, there is increasing evidence that perioperative management has the potential to influence patient outcomes weeks, months, and perhaps even years after surgery. This symposium will explore aspects of anesthetic care most likely to be associated with alterations in long-term outcome.

Three invited speakers will lead the session. Daniel I. Sessler, M.D., Professor and Chair Department of Outcomes Research, Cleveland Clinic, will discuss long-term consequences of intraoperative management; Philip J. Devereaux, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor, McMaster University Departments of Medicine (Division of Cardiology) and Clinical Epidemiology and Biostatistics, will describe how we can substantially cut the risk of major vascular complications among patients undergoing noncardiac surgery in the coming decade; and Simon C. Body, M.B.Ch.B., M.P.H., Assistant Professor of Anesthesiology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, will discuss the team role of intraoperative transfusion management upon long-term outcomes.

Investigators from around the world with an interest in this subject are requested to submit their work to the ASA for the Annual Meeting. Abstracts from both basic and clinical sciences are welcome. Studies examining or evaluating key biomarkers in perioperative and critical care medicine are encouraged. Abstracts should be submitted via  the usual online process (which can be accessed through the Web sites www.asahq.organd www.anesthesiology.org). Interested individuals should be sure to check the “Journal Symposium” box on the abstract submission form to be considered for inclusion in this special session. The deadline for abstract submission is March 31, 2010. Abstract selections will be made by the symposium organizers in conjunction with members of the Anesthesiology Editorial Board.

The authors of abstracts selected for the symposium will be offered an opportunity to submit their work to Anesthesiology for inclusion in a special issue to be published in the spring of 2011.

“Debunking Myths of Transfusion”

Anesthesiology, in conjunction with the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER), is pleased to announce the 3rd annual joint conference to be held at the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) Annual Meeting on October 19, 2010, in San Diego, California.

A beneficial effect on outcome has never been demonstrated for blood product transfusion. In contrast, hundreds of publications have found an association between blood product transfusion and adverse outcomes. However, recent literature indicates that transfusion of “fresh” red cells may have fewer adverse consequences. Furthermore, recent literature also states that focusing on coagulation is essential early after major trauma and the avoidance of fresh frozen plasma transfusion may be misguided. This session will explore these issues and provide a forum for presentation of recent findings in transfusion and resuscitation.

Three invited speakers will lead the session. John Holcomb, M.D., Director of the Center for Translational Injury Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston, will describe the role of FFP in improving outcomes after trauma; Elliott Bennett-Guerrero, M.D., Duke Clinical Research Institute, Duke University, will discuss new blood on postoperative outcomes; and Donat R. Spahn, M.D., F.R.C.A., University Hospital Zürich, will describe outcomes after transfusion.

These lectures will be accompanied by the presentation of posters selected for their relevance to the symposium topic. The joint conference date, time and location will be announced at a later date.

Abstracts should be submitted via  the usual online process (which can be accessed via  the Web sites www.asahq.organd www.anesthesiology.org). Interested individuals should be sure to check the “Anesthesiology/FAER Joint Conference” box on the abstract submission form to be considered for inclusion in this special session. The deadline for abstract submission is March 31, 2010.

The authors of abstracts selected for the session will be offered an opportunity to submit their work to Anesthesiology for inclusion in a special issue to be published in the spring of 2011.

The Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) is seeking nominations for the 2010 FAER Award for Mentoring Excellence in Research. This award was created to ensure that the value of outstanding mentors is recognized and to encourage, develop, and retain these valuable individuals in our specialty.

The FAER Award for Mentoring Excellence in Research recognizes mentorship rather than scientific accomplishment. Nominees must have mentored anesthesiologists or scientists who have worked in the United States and contributed significantly to the practice. The award is focused on the successful development of mentees, not on the mentor's professional accomplishments. Nominees should be superior mentors, seen as supporting the future of the specialty.

The deadline for nominations is March 31, 2010. Details on the nomination process and a nomination form are available at www.faer.org.

FAER is calling for grant applications focused on two specific areas of pain research:

  1. Chronic Opioid Use and Perioperative Management: FAER is requesting proposals for projects that will improve our understanding of perioperative management of surgical patients concurrently receiving chronic opioids at the time of operation. Projects may relate to any aspect of optimizing analgesic care of patients on chronic opioids, ranging from pharmacologic aspects of chronic opioid use in the perioperative period to methods of best combining acute perioperative analgesic interventions with chronic opioid use.

  2. Spinal Cord Stimulation and Chronic Pain: Spinal cord stimulation has evolved as an effective treatment for failed back surgery syndrome with persistent radiculopathy and refractory angina. The underlying mechanisms leading to analgesia are poorly understood and its comparative effectiveness versus  alternative treatments is largely unknown. FAER is requesting proposals for projects that will improve our understanding of spinal cord stimulation. Projects may relate to any aspect of this technology related to pain, ranging from basic neural mechanisms of analgesia to better defining the clinical utility of this modality.

To view the complete requests for proposal, go to http://www.faer.org/about/fundingOpp.html. FAER's 2010 grant deadline is February 16.