Block It Like It’s Hot: Regional Anesthesia, Pain Medicine & POCUS

Our two hosts sit down for a stimulating (yes, intended) conversation with Kwesi Kwofie from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, who gets down and dirty about needle nerve contact and nerve injury. Where exactly should we put the needle when performing a supraclavicular brachial plexus block? Or...is the supraclav dead?!! Why is periplexus preferred over intraplexus when doing interscalene brachial plexus blocks? Oh, and Kwesi might just win the joke contest. But wait, not to outdone, we follow up with Kristopher Schroeder from the University of Wisconsin, who educates us about raaaaaanch dressing, cheese curds, and gets us thinking about artificial intelligence and anesthesiology--is it ok to use generative AI to write a reference letter for a colleague? What is 'sentiment analysis' and do we have to read the whole paper anymore? Can AI help in decision-making surrounding transfusion practices? For all this and much much more, tune in to this fascinating episode. Join us each month for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care, POCUS, pain medicine, ultrasound guided nerve blocks, acute pain, and perioperative care! 

Amit and Jeff continue their fascinating dive into the mind and life of Admir Hadzic, author, innovator, founder of NYSORA, brewer of fine beer, bassist and sports car nut. In this episode we discuss standardization in regional anesthesia, the future of textbooks in medicine, how sedated DO patients really want to be for nerve blocks, what it's like to drive a Ferrari to your next gig, and (because we don't shy away from cont-rah-versy, Admir's passionate thoughts and feelings on why there IS a difference between spinal and general for hip fracture and where some of the recent data may be more harmful than helpful for patients.  Join us each month for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care, POCUS, pain medicine, ultrasound guided nerve blocks, acute pain, and perioperative care! 

Amit and Jeff are still (!) sweating it out in the block box, and have the good fortune to be joined by three wonderful guests: Stuart Grant from the University of North Carolina, Steve Coppens from the Catholic University of Leuven, and Gary Schwartz from Maimonides Medical Center in NYC. We cover such topics as peripheral nerve stimulation for looooong term pain control, the value of the ESP (and where it might just be hype--I'm talking to you, bunionectomy), the struggle of teaching residents AND fellows in the same institution, and cryoanalgesia of the cuties and intercostal nerves and what that means for patients both before their operations and after. Oh, and maybe why you shouldn't let your colleagues (or your trainees) stick needles in your back...   Join us each month for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care, POCUS, pain medicine, ultrasound guided nerve blocks, acute pain, and perioperative care! 

He's the founder of NYSORA, a rock-blues bassist, and a lover of fine beer and finer automobiles. We had a ton of fun chatting with Admir Hadzic about the his origin story, how he has been able to reinvent himself and his focus, and how to NOT live your life in "thirds". Over three decades, Admir has built a global educational brand while running a highly efficient regional anesthesia service in New York and now Belgium, and he shares his secrets on how he's been able to build a team, create value, and not get bogged down in things that aren't moving the mission forward. Cheers!    Join us each month for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care, POCUS, pain medicine, ultrasound guided nerve blocks, acute pain, and perioperative care! 

This episode features Ed Mariano, a Stanford professor, who discusses social media strategies and the origins of Plan A Blocks. Eleni Moka, president of the European Society of Regional Anesthesia, shares her mission to globalize regional anesthesia education. Michael Bullock from Duke University dives into data on cervical ESPs and tips to prevent tourniquet hypertension. The lively discussion also includes personal anecdotes, humorous takes on social media norms, and a lighthearted exchange of animal jokes that keeps the energy high and insights flowing.

Wine, flamingos, and a glass box…this is NOT your typical BILIH episode...Amit and Jeff join you from the ASRA Spring Annual Meeting 2025 in Orlando, Florida, where they recorded live interviews with over a dozen influential thinkers in regional anesthesiology. Join us as we chat and laugh with James Kim, Sandy Kopp and Nadia Hernandez over discussions of POCUS, probe covers, catheters, the NEW anticoagulation guidelines, and much much more!   Join us each month for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care, POCUS, pain medicine, ultrasound guided nerve blocks, acute pain, and perioperative care! 

Clear!!! In the exciting conclusion to our two-parter on blocks in emergency medicine, things get real as the co-hosts debate Arun and Andrew over the ideal block for hip fracture, a slick way to reduce a shoulder dislocation, cheeky femoral blocks, and the role of fascial plane blocks in the ED.    Links:   The sponsor of this episode is GE Healthcare Venue Family of Ultrasound Machines: https://tinyurl.com/gehealthcarevenue   Article on spontaneous reduction hip dislocation after PENG block: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39781033/   Blockheads website: www.blockheads-em.com   5 Minute Sono: https://coreultrasound.com/5ms/   POCUS Atlas: https://www.thepocusatlas.com/   Join us each month for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care, POCUS, pain medicine, ultrasound guided nerve blocks, acute pain, and perioperative care!   

Amit and Jeff are joined by Dr. Robbie Erskine from Daaaarrby, UK, sharing his immense wealth of knowledge and experience (and which Bond film is his fave) on spinal anesthesia technique and how to make ambulatory spinals work for everyone!    Link to the BJA Education article on neuraxial anesthesia in patients with challenging anatomy: https://www.bjaed.org/article/S2058-5349(23)00154-3/fulltext   Link to Robbie's review article on ambulatory spinal anesthesia:   https://www.bjaed.org/article/S2058-5349(19)30107-6/fulltext   Join us each month for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care, POCUS, pain medicine, ultrasound guided nerve blocks, acute pain, and perioperative care! 

Amit and Jeff are joined by two Emergency Medicine experts (and self-described Blockheads!) with a passion for keeping injured patients comfortable. Drs. Arun Nagdev and Andrew Goldsmith talk to us about the role of regional anesthesia in the ER, what blocks are high-impact, what exactly is meant by a "tube and lube rotation" for trainees, and more!    Link to the JAMA paper on regional anesthesia in the ER and complications: https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2826105   Join us each month for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care, POCUS, pain medicine, ultrasound guided nerve blocks, acute pain, and perioperative care! 

In part 2, Amit and Jeff tackle probe positioning, needle trajectory and something called Pawa's Pleural Groan...Why is the PVB poised to have a renaissance? Should we block one level? Every level? What's the risk of pneumothorax and should this block be done in anti coagulated patients? (spoiler: 2 out of 2 hosts say YES!) Join us for all this and more as we round out this in-depth discussion into one of our FAVE block techniques. Oh, and jokes. Always the jokes. Link to the Cho study on paravertebral micro-CT anatomy: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33990438/   Link to the paper on intermittent bolus vs continuous infusion for PV catheters: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30674696/   Join us each month for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care, POCUS, pain medicine, ultrasound guided nerve blocks, acute pain, and perioperative care!