2019 IARS
The International Anesthesia Research Society held its annual meeting and science symposium from May 18 – May 20, 2019 in Montreal, Canada. This meeting was immediately preceded by the annual meetings of the Association of University Anesthesiologists (AUA) and the Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists (SOCCA) at the same venue. This year’s meeting was attended by more than 1200 attendees and offered more than 600 scientific abstract presentations among a diverse and engaging core program. Of more than 240 content submissions for this meeting, the multidisciplinary organizing and programs committee was only able to accept 77 proposals.
ISPCOP was prominently represented on all three days of the IARS with a panel and PBLD on Saturday and an RCL on Monday in addition to a separately arranged ISPCOP McGill Anesthesia Networking Session on Sunday night.
ISPCOP Panel
This year's 90-minute ISPCOP panel entitled "Fables, Facts and Best Practice Updates: The Patient with Obesity" was organized by Roman Schumann, MD, FASA, Immediate Past President of ISPCOP, and started right on time at 2.30 pm on Saturday, a 'prime time' slot at the meeting. Working through the initial audio failure in a large auditorium with great attendance, four speakers engaged the audience with 20-minute presentations on a variety of interesting topics. Dr. Peter Van de Putte, faculty at the Hospital AZ Monica in Antwerp (University of Antwerp, and Catholic University of Leuven), Belgium presented the most recent developments in novel gastric ultrasound POC utilization for aspiration risk assessment with an emphasis on the obese patient. Dr. Roman Schumann, Tufts University, Boston, USA, moderated the session and provided an overview of our current knowledge on the accuracy of non-invasive blood pressure measurements in the obese patient and comparisons to invasive “Gold Standard" methods (A-line). Dr. Luc De Baerdemaeker, faculty at the University Hospital in Ghent, Belgium, reported on the most recent findings on the never-ending challenge of correct drug dosing in patients with obesity. Dr. De Baerdemaeker is the president of ESPCOP, the European sister society of ISPCOP, and he focused his talk on antibiotics, thromboprophylaxis and pressor medications. Dr. Tiffany Moon, faculty at the University of Texas Southwestern in Dallas, USA, and also a board member of ISPCOP, presented the most recent insight regarding intubation, extubation, airway management and apneic oxygenation for our vulnerable population, an all-time audience favorite topic.
ISPCOP and McGill Anesthesia Networking Session
For Sunday evening, Dr. Naveen Eipe, faculty at the University of Ottawa, Ottawa, Canada, and VP for Education at ISPCOP organized and moderated an ISPCOP and McGill Anesthesia Networking Session in collaboration with McGill University, Montreal, Canada. This dinner event entitled "Exploring the role of prehabilitation on ERAS" hosted Drs. Francesco Carli and Michael Sullivan, both faculty at McGill University in the departments of Medicine and Psychology respectively, provoking an interesting discussion among the audience followed by a French-Canadian inspired networking dinner. ISPCOP is extremely grateful to Dr. Eipe and Merck, Canada for the organization and conduct of this successful session and generous unrestricted support, respectively.
Drs. Anu Wadhwa and Roman Schumann, President and Immediate Past President of ISPCOP attended the Monday morning by-invitation-only IARS subspecialty breakfast hosted by Drs. Beverly Orser (University of Toronto) and Michael Avidan (Washington University), the IARS annual meeting program directors. This was the second year that ISPCOP was invited to participate and discuss the current meeting as well as propose improvements for future meetings. Subspecialty societies will propose 2 of their members each time to be part of the next year’s proposal evaluation process. The hosts have proposed that societies go through an internal review process before submitting their proposals to reduce the workload on the committees reviewing the proposal. They were unequivocally supportive of an evening program by ISPCOP at IARS and have invited a private conference call to discuss this further for next year.
Dr. Naveen Eipe
Also on Monday morning, Dr. Naveen Eipe, presented a well-attended 45 minute ISPCOP RCL entitled "Ambulatory Surgery in Morbid Obesity: Quo Vadis?" that was followed by an engaging QA period that included important questions on the acceptability and performance of GI and ophthalmology procedures in this population. The attendance as well as an exposé in "The Daily Dose," the meetings’ daily newsletter, pointing to the importance of this topic. More details can be found here: http://iars.org/2019-the-daily-dose/ambulatory-care-for-the-obese-patient/.
Although not designated as an ISPCOP related event, Dr. Olubukola (Bukky) Nafiu, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, USA and VP for Research at ISPCOP discussed "Tonsillectomy in Obese Children with Down Syndrome: Not Just Another T&A" in a PBLD on Saturday with his colleague Dr. Kumar Belani, University of Minnesota. This ticketed session drew attention to obesity in our pediatric population.
ISPCOP and friends, invited speakers and members
Finally, and again thanks to Dr. Eipe, a social gathering of ISPCOP and friends, invited speakers and members took place on Saturday evening at a local watering hole for good stories, laughs and community among colleagues and significant others.
The 2019 IARS annual meeting was a success for IARS and ISPCOP, and we are looking forward to further strengthening our ties with IARS in the future. ISPCOP will provide session proposals for the 2020 annual meeting, and help again with the evaluation of submissions as part of the IARS organizing committee.
