Anesthesiology department turns out in force at ASA annual meeting

Resident Jeremy Payne, MD and research scholar/student Christina Gimondo at the event.

The American Society of Anesthesiology’s (ASA) annual meeting draws anesthesiologists from all over the globe, and the UNMC Department of Anesthesiology turned out in force at the October event to give presentations, participate in panels, discuss new research and collaborate on leadership activities at what Karsten Bartels, MD, PhD, called “the highest impact meeting in our specialty.”

A total of 17 academic anesthesiologists, two research fellows, five anesthesiology residents and two research students from UNMC and Children’s Hospital & Medical Center were part of the UNMC Department of Anesthesiology’s turnout at the meeting, held this year in New Orleans.

“The annual anesthesiology meeting is the biggest meeting in our specialty. It has the most international representation, in addition to very robust attendance from the U.S. Every academic department is present, and we’re lucky to participate in multiple domains, be it running ultrasound courses, spearheading resident and fellow events, leading our specialty through committee work and at the caucus level or presenting cutting-edge research,” Dr. Bartels said.

Department faculty, fellows, and residents participating in presentations and panels at the event included:

  • Amanda Arnzen, MD: “Stewart Approach to Acid-Base”
  • Rebecca Aron, MD: “Update on New CIED Devices’ Function and Management”
  • Karsten Bartels, MD, PhD: “Anesthetic Implications in Patients Using Amphetamines, Cocaine and Other Street Drugs”; “Adequate Muscle Reversal: How Can I Avoid Reintubation in the PACU?”; “PRIOR: A trial of automated alerts for opioid prescribing; Oral Presentations – Critical Care I”
  • Megan Chacon, MD: “TEE Reading Session – Learn to Interpret Rescue ECHO”; “Basic Transesophageal Echocardiography Hands-On Workshop”
  • Andrea Dutoit, MD: “Resident Meet & Greet”
  • Julie Gillespie, MD: “Anesthetic Management of Tricuspid Pulmonic Valve Replacement in Rare Carcinoid Heart Disease”
  • John Gallego, MD: “Limiting Changes to Operating Room Temperature and Patient Temperature in Recovery – An Interrupted Time Series Analysis”
  • Gabriel Gallegos, MD: “Ultrasound Guided IV Quality Improvement Project” (Presentation at the WakeUp Safe meeting, Society for Pediatric Anesthesia)
  • Andrew Maresch, MD: “Basic Transesophageal Echocardiography Hands-On Workshop”
  • Nick Markin, MD: “TEE Reading Session – Learn to Interpret Rescue ECHO”; “Basic Transesophageal Echocardiography Hands-On Workshop”; “Show me the Function: Preoperative Assessment Tools for Right Ventricular Function”
  • Taylor Meyer, MD: “Echocardiographic Evaluation of Pericardial Effusion During Pediatric Liver Transplant”
  • Maria Michaelis, MD: Co-Moderator “Perioperative Medicine III Scientific Oral Session”
  • Januka Nepal, MBBS: “Development and Pilot-Testing of a Patient-Facing Medical App to Improve Post-Surgical Pain Management”
  • Jeremy Payne, MD: “Prevalence and Characteristics of Inappropriate Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation at an Academic Midwest Medical Center”
  • Kaitlyn Pellegrino, MD: “Cardiac Arrest and Left Ventricular Non-Compaction: What Did I Miss?”
  • Taylor Ziegler, MD: “Anesthetic Considerations in a Child with Fontaine Progeroid Syndrome and Craniosynostosis Undergoing General Anesthesia”

Other department faculty at the event included Andrew Ingemansen, MD; Michelle LeRiger, MD; Robert Lobato, MD; Maireen Miravite, MD; Erin Renze, DO; Nancy Rogic, MD; Mo Shukry, MD; and Charles Walcutt, MD.

In addition, department resident Jeremy Payne, MD, received a Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Resident Scholar Award for his presentation.

“This year, we had six trainees present abstracts or oral presentations,” Dr. Bartels said. With Dr. Payne’s recognition, “we have now had, for the third time, a FAER-sponsored scholar. That’s encouraging for the research efforts of trainees in our in the department.”

The department also was represented in ASA leadership activities, with Robert Lobato, MD, and Cale Kassel, MD, serving as the Nebraska Society of Anesthesiologists representatives in the ASA’s House of Delegates.

  • Dr. Lobato sits on the ASA’s Committee on Cardiovascular and Thoracic Anesthesia; Committee on Performance and Outcomes Measurement; Abstract Review Subcommittee on Outcomes and Database Research; and Educational Track Subcommittee on Perioperative Medicine.
  • Dr. Ingemansen sits on the Educational Track Subcommittee on Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine.
  • Dr. Bartels sits on the Committee on Academic Anesthesiology 2022-2024, Committee on Critical Care Medicine 2022-2023, Committee on Research 2021-2023, Abstract Review Subcommittee on Critical Care 2022-2023 and Abstract Review Subcommittee on Outcomes and Database Research 2022-2023.
  • Dr. Kassel sits on the Rural Access of Anesthesia Care Committee and the Transplant Anesthesia Committee.
  • Dr. Rogic sits on the Committee on Physician Well-Being, the Subcommittee on Outreach and the Pediatric Anesthesia Committee.
  • Dr. Michaelis sits on the Abstract Review Subcommittee on History and Education, the Abstract Review Subcommittee on Perioperative Medicine, and the Committee on Ethics
  • Dr. Gálvez is the chair of the Biomedical Informatics Special Interest Group for the Society for Pediatric Anesthesia and is a member of the Committee on Informatics and Information Technology and the Anesthesiology Editorial Board.

Dr. Arnzen said she was pleased with the turnout from UNMC.

“The conference is an opportunity for the development of education, to network with other intellectual capital, to represent UNMC and to share our academic pursuits and accomplishments,” she said. Dr. Arnzen pointed to the large number of UNMC faculty who presented – including Drs. Markin, Aron, Pellegrino and Bartels – as well as the many UNMC residents who offered breakdowns of complicated cases during the event.”

“There’s certainly a feeling of pride in being able to display for our colleagues the care that we can provide for our patients, our academic accomplishments and our education of up-and-coming physicians,” she said.