Background and objectives: While there are several published recommendations and guidelines for trainees undertaking subspecialty Fellowships in regional anesthesia, a similar document describing a core regional anesthesia curriculum for non-fellowship trainees is less well defined. We aimed to produce an international consensus for the training and teaching of regional anesthesia that is applicable for the majority of worldwide anesthesiologists. Methods: This anonymous, electronic Delphi study was conducted over two rounds and distributed to current and immediate past (within 5 years) directors of regional anesthesia training worldwide. The steering committee formulated an initial list of items covering nerve block techniques, learning objectives and skills assessment and volume of practice, relevant to a non-fellowship regional anesthesia curriculum. Participants scored these items in order of importance using a 10-point Likert scale, with free-text feedback. Strong consensus items were defined as highest importance (score ≥8) by ≥70% of all participants. Results: 469 participants/586 invitations (80.0% response) scored in round 1, and 402/469 participants (85.7% response) scored in round 2. Participants represented 66 countries. Strong consensus was reached for 8 core peripheral and neuraxial blocks and 17 items describing learning objectives and skills assessment. Volume of practice for peripheral blocks was uniformly 16–20 blocks per anatomical region, while ≥50 neuraxial blocks were considered minimum. Conclusions: This international consensus study provides specific information for designing a non-fellowship regional anesthesia curriculum. Implementation of a standardized curriculum has benefits for patient care through improving quality of training and quality of nerve blocks.

Objective. Clavicle fractures are common injuries potentially associated with significant perioperative pain. However, this region’s complex sensory innervation poses a challenge for regional anesthetic or analgesic (RA) techniques. We conducted this scoping review to summarize the current literature, particularly with regards to motor-sparing techniques. Methods. A scoping review was carried out in accordance with the Joanna Briggs Institute’s framework. All articles describing the use of RA for clavicle fractures or surgery were included. PubMed^®, Ovid MEDLINE^®, EMBASE^®, Scopus^®, CINAHL^®, and the Cochrane database were searched without language restrictions. Results. Database searches identified 845 articles, 44 of which were included in this review, with a combined patient total of 3161. We included all peer-reviewed publications containing clinical data and summarized the findings. Conclusions. Current evidence of RA techniques in clavicle surgery is heterogeneous, with different approaches used to overcome the overlapping sensory innervation. The literature largely comprises case reports/series, with several randomized controlled trials. Intermediate cervical plexus block is the regional technique of choice for clavicle surgery, and can provide reliable surgical anesthesia when combined with an interscalene block. Cervical plexus block can provide motor-sparing analgesia following clavicle surgery. Promising alternatives include the clavipectoral block, which is a novel motor-sparing regional technique. Further studies are required to determine the efficacy and safety of various techniques.

Regional anaesthesia has seen a resurgence of sorts since the widespread advent of ultrasound into clinical practice. The ability to access hitherto inaccessible nerves and fascial planes in the human body whilst ensuring visualisation of the needle tip during block performance has opened the proverbial floodgates leading to its widespread adoption, further supported by a growing body of evidence for its many benefits in a patient’s perioperative journey and pain management. The concomitant advancement of technology and the development of powerful simulation and artificial intelligence tools has given a much-needed impetus towards improving training and safe practice in regional anaesthesia. Methods: We performed a detailed search of databases, including PubMed Medline, Web of Science, EBSCO, Embase and the Cochrane Library, up to October 2024. Our search was conducted using phrases including (but not limited to) “history of anaesthesia”, “history of simulation”, “regional anaesthesia and simulation”, AI and “artificial intelligence and anaesthesia”.

Objective. Clavicle fracture fixation is commonly performed under general anesthesia due to the complex sensory innervation in this region which poses a challenge for anesthesiologists applying regional anesthetic (RA) techniques. In part 1 of this two-part study, we summarized the current literature describing various RA approaches in clavicle fractures and surgery. In our earlier scoping review, we surmised that a superficial or intermediate cervical plexus block (CPB) may provide analgesia for this procedure and, when combined with an interscalene brachial plexus block (ISB), can provide anesthesia to the clavicular region for surgical fixation. We performed a retrospective study, consolidating assumptions that were based on the results of our earlier scoping review. Methods. A retrospective study was conducted on 168 consecutive patients who underwent clavicle fixation surgery at a tertiary healthcare system in Singapore. We used a standardized pro forma to collate perioperative data from the electronic health records of both hospitals, including anesthetic technique, analgesic requirements, pain scores, and adverse events, up to the second postoperative day or up until discharge. Results. In our study, patients who received RA had significantly reduced pain scores and opioid requirements, compared to general anesthesia (GA) alone. Through subgroup analysis, differences were found in postoperative pain scores and opioid requirements in the following order: GA alone > GA with local infiltration analgesia > CPB > CPB plus ISB. All patients who received combined CPB and ISB had upper limb weakness in recovery, compared to none with CPB alone (p < 0.001). Of those who received an ISB either in isolation or combined with a CPB, four (9.3%) were reported to have dyspnea (within 24 h) and motor weakness that persisted beyond 12 h, compared to none for patients that received CPB alone. Conclusions. Addition of a CPB to GA for clavicle fracture fixation surgery is associated with reduced pain scores in the early postoperative period, with a lower opioid requirement compared to GA alone. In patients undergoing GA, the combination of a CPB with an ISB was associated with a small, although statistically significant, reduction in pain scores and opioid requirements compared to a CPB alone.

The understanding of ergonomics is a vital competency for all peripheral nerve block operators. The essence of physical ergonomics for peripheral nerve block procedures can be summarised into three significant components: brain, musculoskeletal and needling. The first component includes strategies to optimise visuospatial neuroprocessing using equipment configuration. The second component reflects the careful planning of posture and position to improve procedural technique and reduce physical fatigue. The final component focuses on strategies to achieve needle beam alignment for optimal needle visualisation.