Welcome to Acute Pain/Regional Anesthesia!
Department Chief: Dr. Merman
Attendings: Dr. Mohapatra, Dr. Hopcian, Dr. Ghaly, Dr. Chamu
Coordinator: Denise Prybor (Denise.Prybor@UHhospitals.org)
Location: Seidman PACU in 2nd floor behind the Mather PACU.
Hours: usually 0545 to 1400, but not always.
On the first day of the rotation: Intern and Junior should text the senior the night before regarding logistics of the rotation and meeting time. Usually meets in the Seidman PACU by 0530-0545 AM.
Attire: OR scrubs.
Since the transition to EPIC, many of our documentation and workflow items have changed.
Please review this presentation here before your first day for how to appropriately document blocks
The Ultimate Resident Guide - Acute Pain Section
Expectations
Intern
Stocking ultrasound tower and the block cart daily
Assist in notes, blocks, and other procedures
Position descriptions:
Consents
Start IVs - always talk to your seniors before
Preps block kits
Home Call 2 weekends
Junior
Responsible for obtaining all required medications from the omnicell
Responsible for performing most of the blocks and procedures
Home Call 1 weekend
Senior
Responsible for coordinating the team for smooth flow of the day
Assist the Junior for blocks
Perform advanced block procedures
Round with attending at least first two weeks
Home Call 1 weekend
Helpful Hints/Tips
Surgeons will often ask for blocks to be done postop (neurochecks, avoid delay of case start)
All postop blocks must be consented prior to surgery because patient cannot consent after anesthesia
Rare cases warrant calling POAs to get consent if they weren’t consented preop for a postop block
Do everything in your power to be efficient so you can leave at 1400- there should be no down time unless there is truly nothing to do
Call preop secretary to make sure patients are brought to preop area when they arrive in waiting
Call surgical teams to get consent
Divide and conquer tasks
May get consulted for something that is more appropriate for chronic pain- refer the service to the appropriate consult pager
PRACTICE! You won’t get better at finding your needle if you don’t do blocks and practice on the phantom - ask senior/ attending about the phantom (even then, sometimes you won’t see your needle)
Educational Resources
NYSORA
Available Dot Phrases on iPad
Adductor canal (“adductor”)
Axillary (“axillary”)
ESP (Erector spinae plane) (“esp”)
Infraclavicular (“infraclavicular”)
Interscalene (“interscalene”)
Popliteal (“popliteal”)
QL catheters (“qlc”)
QL single shot (“qlss”)
Supraclavicular (“supraclavicular”)
How to add more dot phrases
Go to Settings > General > Keyboard > Text Replacement
Add new dot phrases by pressing “+” > type in the phrase and the shortcut > “save”