Members of Vanderbilt’s Department of Anesthesiology impacted the sights and sounds of the latest advances in anesthesiology during the recent 2023 American Society of Anesthesiologists Annual Meeting in San Fransisco.
The conference included hundreds of presentations from scholars around the country, many networking opportunities, and hands-on workshops that members of the department facilitated and attended, including participation in more than 65 activities as authors, presenters or moderators.
For the four-day conference, department members were able to assess the latest airway devices, ultrasound techniques, anesthesia delivery systems, decision support tools, and more.
Loren Smith, MD, PhD, assistant professor, presented “In Patients with Chronic Kidney Disease Who Are Undergoing Major Cardiac and Vascular Surgery, Dysfunctional, Pro-inflammatory HDL Is Associated with Postoperative AKI.” Smith said she’s been working on this study since about 2016.
“We want to find novel potential therapeutics for acute kidney injury after surgery, particularly cardiac and vascular surgery,” Smith said. “We’re trying to identify new modifiable risk factors, things we could actually change or create treatments to change, then trying to figure out how to create those treatments. We focus mostly on high density lipoproteins, or HDL.”
Jonathan Wanderer, MD, MPhil, FASA, moderated a 60-minute panel on artificial intelligence in anesthesiology. Panel participant Hannah Lonsdale, MBChB, presented “Mind the Gap: Barriers to the Development and Implementation of AI in Anesthesiology.”
Lonsdale said AI can potentially be used in patient monitoring, drug delivery and training. However, it is not intended to replace physician expertise. Lonsdale said that few anesthesiologists will encounter AI-based tools owing to issues with data. This is because very little of the collected data is optimized for AI. There is also the issue of privacy because AI relies on large amounts of data that contain sensitive patient information. So, before any of that data can be used, precautions will need to be put in place to ensure protection of patient information.
Jeanette Bauchat, MD, professor of Obstetric Anesthesiology, presented “Monitoring Recommendations for the Prevention and Detection of Respiratory Depression Associated with Administration of Neuraxial Morphine for Cesarean Delivery Analgesia.”
Bauchat said that respiratory depression from neuraxial opioids is very rare following cesarean delivery, and it should not stop physicians from using this most effective pain modality. She added that intensity of respiratory monitoring should be based on neuraxial opioid dosing and patient/perioperative risk factors for respiratory depression. According to the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology (SOAP), the frequency and intensity of respiratory monitoring can be reduced in healthy patients using modern neuraxial opioid dosing regimens.
Ed Sherwood, MD, PhD, Corneilius Vanderbilt Professor of Anesthesiology, received the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) Mentoring Excellence in Research Award. The FAER Academy of Research Mentors in Anesthesiology (ARMA) presents one award annually to an outstanding mentor who epitomizes the successful development of mentees who go on to become physician scientists, ultimately shaping the future of the specialty.
“Mentorship is one of our most important responsibilities as scientists and physicians, especially as we progress through our career to become senior members of the faculty,” Sherwood said. “It is gratifying to see mentees succeed and become impactful mentors in their own right. I’m grateful to receive this recognition.”
Vanderbilt University School of Medicine was selected for the Outstanding Anesthesia Interest Group Award. Awards are presented annually to those AIGs that show an exceptional level of participation, enthusiasm, program quality, professionalism, and involvement in their university, community and at the ASA annual meeting.
“VUMC’s department is a reference for others to benchmark against,” said Warren Sandberg, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Anesthesiology. “This year’s showing at the ASA validates yet again that we are surely a contender for the aspirational ‘best all-around department’ award. I was so proud to be able to attend and support such great work.”
