Cite as: Machi A. Editor’s corner: celebrating 50 years of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia Pain Medicine. ASRA Pain Medicine News 2025;50. https://doi.org/10.52211/asra050125.002.

Editor’s Corner

This spring we celebrate 50 years of the American Society of Regional Anesthesia Pain Medicine at the annual meeting. The society is robust and productive, expanding its footprint in the regional anesthesia and pain medicine worlds. In keeping with these special events, we present articles honoring leaders within the society and sharing aspects of the legacies from the early years that shape where we are today.

First, we present an article on the history of our newsletter, ASRA Pain Medicine News. We share the arc of its story from its inception as a non-peer-reviewed, industry-sponsored publication to its current form as a peer-reviewed, CrossRef-indexed digital publication. The chronology of people involved and products produced is a wonderful journey through the communications of our society during the past 50 years. Next, we deliver reflections from past and present members of the ASRA Pain Medicine Board of Directors about the spring meeting. Our human capital is our greatest wealth, and these articles present wonderful memories of some of our greatest assets. Finally, we round out the collection with a return to a humanistic element that once ran strong within ASRA Pain Medicine, poetry. Many of the early leaders of ASRA Pain Medicine were also poets, and we are fortunate to be able to share once again the poetry of Dr. Gale Thompson and invite you, the reader, to submit poems. Please email us at [email protected] with your poems!

Another theme that runs through this May issue celebrates Earth Day and highlights our role in green clinical practice and how our roles are evolving with the AI evolution in our midst. Environmental stewardship may not be top of mind when we think about our clinical practices—our patients come first! And yet, the health of our global population is inextricably intertwined with the health of our environment. Medical waste makes a significant contribution to the pollution of our planet. The decisions we make impact this on an individual level and collectively. Moreover, the ballgame is changing as AI seeps into our practices. While this could be beneficial from an environmental stewardship perspective, that is not a given. What is one thing that you can do in your practice that is not only in keeping with providing the best, efficient clinical care but is also beneficial for our planet?

From our environment, we transition to our core articles, and this edition delivers! First, we have a truly spectacular How I Do It: Ultrasound-Guided Thoracic Paravertebral Block (PVB) by Drs. Ranjith Sivakumar and Manoj Karmakar. This is the type of article that you will want to read, digest, and then read again. No matter if you are embarking on your first or 10,000th PVB, this article is a masterclass! Next, we present the perfect foil to this article with another How I Do It: X-Ray-Guided Thoracic Nerve Root Block by Dr. Nakamura and colleagues. These articles provide exceptional insights as they approach similar anatomical territory with different and complementary perspectives, whether you are a regionalist, pain medicine physician, or both.

Following this, Drs. Emily Burson and Theresa Lii address a hot topic in pain medicine—psychedelics. The use of psychedelic substances in the treatment of chronic pain is currently limited to research settings; however, the body of research is growing and holds promise. Take a dive into this burgeoning area of interest. In contrast to that exploration, the next article is a thorough and insightful deep POCUS dive into transcranial doppler (TCD) by Dr. Sai and colleagues. This article provides a detailed introduction to TCD in the clinical diagnosis and management of several cerebrovascular disorders and traumatic brain injury. The issue is then rounded out with interviews of the award recipients, Labat Award—Dr. Ban C. H. Tsui and Distinguished Service Award—Dr. Asokumar Buvanendran, followed by updates on research grants and another smashing round of ASRA Answers and the Literature Review.

And as always, I say a warm thank you to the readers, authors, newsletter team members, editors, ASRA Pain Medicine management staff, and all the volunteers who make this and every edition of the newsletter possible. Your contributions fuel our collective mission to advance knowledge and care in regional anesthesia and pain medicine. I welcome your feedback and ideas at [email protected].