PAA and Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital Named a Center of Excellence
04.04.2009

Presbyterian Anesthesia Associates (PAA), providing anesthesia services at Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, has been named one of 12 national Centers of Excellence for ultrasound guided regional anesthesia (UGRA) and their nerve block catheter program. Under the Directorship of Dr. Mike McNelis, section Chief of Anesthesiology at Presbyterian Orthopaedic Hospital, the UGRA and Block Catheter Program has rapidly become one of the premier programs in the country, performing over 2500 ultrasound guided procedures per year, including over 1500 block catheters. Physicians from practices throughout the U.S. come to train with PAA's anesthesiologists in ultrasound guided block techniques as well as in the logistics of establishing a UGRA and Block Catheter Program. 

This program, designed to reduce pain following surgery, benefits both patients staying in the hospital (usually following joint replacement surgery) as well as ambulatory surgery patients. Outpatients sent home with these catheters can expect 48 hours of pain relief, expediting their return of normal function. For inpatients we maintain the catheters for one to two days before switching to oral pain medications.

I-Flow, manufacturer of the pumps used in the Block Catheter Program, serves as sponsor for the visiting groups. Anesthesiologists from practices in New York, Charleston, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Dallas have participated in PAA's course, and are taking home cutting edge ideas and methods. By expanding the availability of these techniques outside of PAA's Center of Excellence, many more patients stand to benefit. The great reduction in postoperative pain is accompanied by exceptional patient and surgeon satisfaction, reduced narcotic use, improved early postoperative rehabilitation and reduced length of stay.
 

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