Regional anesthesia and pain medicine
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2023
Association of race and receipt of regional anesthesia for hip fracture surgery.
There is evidence suggesting clinical benefits of regional anesthesia use in the setting of hip fracture repair, including reduced risk of death, deep vein thrombosis, pulmonary complications and myocardial infarction. Thought the literature is mixed, the use of regional anesthesia in hip fracture surgery has not been studied for racial differences. We examined the association of race with neuraxial anesthesia and regional blocks in patients undergoing hip fracture surgery. ⋯ The study suggests that racial differences exist with the utilization of regional anesthesia for hip fracture surgery. While the results of this study should not be taken as evidence for healthcare disparities, it could be used to support hypotheses for future studies that aim to investigate causes of disparities and corresponding patient outcomes.
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Reg Anesth Pain Med · Aug 2023
Needs-based novel digital curriculum for the neuromodulation training deficit: Pain Rounds.
This study reports the needs-based development, effectiveness and feasibility of a novel, comprehensive spinal cord stimulation (SCS) digital curriculum designed for pain medicine trainees. The curriculum aims to address the documented systematic variability in SCS education and empower physicians with SCS expertise, which has been linked to utilization patterns and patient outcomes. Following a needs assessment, the authors developed a three-part SCS e-learning video curriculum with baseline and postcourse knowledge tests. ⋯ Self-reported prior SCS experience had low to moderate positive correlations with Part I and Part III pretest scores (r=0.25, p=0.006; r=0.37, p<0.001, respectively). Initial evidence suggests that Pain Rounds provides an innovative and effective solution to the SCS curriculum deficit. A future controlled study should examine this digital curriculum's long-term impact on SCS practice and treatment outcomes.