Cite as: Johnson RL. 47th annual spring meeting offers something for everyone—all with a focus on regional anesthesia sustainability. ASRA Pain Medicine News 2022;47. https://doi.org/10.52211/asra020122.002. 

On behalf of the entire program committee, I invite you to join us in Las Vegas, NV, March 31–April 2, 2022, for ASRA Pain Medicine’s 47th Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting. The meeting’s theme, regional anesthesia sustainability, reflects our intention to provide perspectives on the regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine practices that have stood the test of time and are relevant for today’s opioid crisis. It also forecasts the many exciting, innovative therapies we’ll feature that have the potential to benefit patients well into the future.

The meeting’s theme, regional anesthesia sustainability, reflects our intention to provide perspectives on the regional anesthesia and acute pain medicine practices that have stood the test of time and are relevant for today’s opioid crisis.

As the world evolves during the COVID-19 pandemic, we are once again planning to provide a safe and innovative, in-person meeting full of basic and clinical translational science, hands-on and demonstration workshops, and problem-based breakout sessions with the experts. We recognize that the state of the pandemic in March is unknown, so we are armed with contingency plans to ensure people will have on-demand access to the amazing regional and acute pain medicine education.

The program kicks off on Thursday with ASRA Pain Medicine President Samer Narouze, MD, PhD, and U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health Rachel Levine, MD, addressing both the opioid crisis and the coronavirus pandemic. Levine, a graduate of Harvard College and Tulane University School of Medicine, previously worked as a pediatrician and is the first transgender four-star U.S. Public Health Service–commissioned corps officer.

ASRA Pain Medicine members, based on your feedback, we have adapted the annual meeting to be more diverse and inclusive. We recognize that the application of diversity goes beyond personal characteristics and have built a program that incorporates geographic and practice location diversity and have been deliberately inclusive with our faculty selections. We have intentionally designed the program to be of interest to the private practice regional anesthesia enthusiast as well as the academician. The main stage, workshops, and interactive sessions will feature faculty with true private practice perspectives.

Additionally, special interest group (SIG)–sponsored sessions feature content endorsed by the Education in Regional Anesthesia, Pediatric Regional Anesthesia and Pain Management, Perioperative Medicine, Perioperative Point-of-Care Ultrasound, Persistent Perioperative Pain, Regional Anesthesia Cardiothoracic Enhanced Recovery, Cannabis in Acute and Chronic Pain, Global Health, Green Anesthesia, LGBTQA, Wellness, Physician Mentorship and Leadership Development, and Women in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine SIGs. 

It wouldn’t be Las Vegas without some theatrics; therefore, we have invited Danny Quirk, an avant garde–style medical illustrator, to dissect and bring to life the structures beneath our needles and encourage us to creatively visualize pain beyond the 1–10 pain scale. Our ticketed, hands-on workshops now have a procedure-specific rather than block-aimed focus and will feature multimodal analgesia strategies that include regional techniques for shoulder, hip, knee, spine, abdominal, elbow and hand, breast and thoracic, and foot and ankles injuries and surgeries. Additional ticketed workshop are the 3D Anatomy Experience, which is a special interactive workshop where participants pair 3D glasses loaded with regional anatomy collections with an expert-led live ultrasound scanning demonstration, as well as “stump the chump”–style demonstration master classes. Register early to secure your seat in these workshops. 

We are excited to feature many internationally renowned invited experts, including:

Sessions throughout the meeting can satisfy your participation in the practice management portfolio, ultrasound-guided regional anesthesia portfolio, and the new American Society of Anesthesiologists diagnostic point-of-care ultrasound certificate program.

Finally, the 47th annual spring meeting offers a variety of exciting and comprehensive learning opportunities for residents and fellows, including the ever-popular resident and fellow reception with regional anesthesia and pain medicine fellowship directors and the exclusive regional anesthesia and point-of-care ultrasound hands-on workshop for residents and fellows.

I can think of no better location to experience a substantive and sustainable assortment of new and traditional educational offerings and in-person networking opportunities than the City That Never Sleeps. Caesars Palace and Las Vegas are internationally renowned for fine dining, shopping, entertainment, and nightlife, and everything is fully open. We are certain the program will have something for everyone to enjoy!  

Rebecca L. Johnson, MD, is an associate professor of anesthesiology at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. Dr. Johnson is the chair of the 47th Annual Regional Anesthesiology and Acute Pain Medicine Meeting.