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. 2023 Apr 20;15(4):e37869.
doi: 10.7759/cureus.37869. eCollection 2023 Apr.

A Change in the Educational Landscape of Regional Anesthesia: A National Survey of Anesthesiology Residency Programs to Assess the Correlation Between the Frequency of Teaching a Block Technique and Clinical Importance

Alberto Ardon  1 , Elird Bojaxhi  1 , Steven Clendenen  2 , Robert McClain  1 , Nigel Gillespie  2 , Christopher Robards  1 , Roy Greengrass  1
Affiliations

A Change in the Educational Landscape of Regional Anesthesia: A National Survey of Anesthesiology Residency Programs to Assess the Correlation Between the Frequency of Teaching a Block Technique and Clinical Importance

Alberto Ardon et al. Cureus. .

Abstract

Introduction Variability regarding which blocks are performed most often can be quite high among anesthesiology residency training programs. Which techniques are viewed by residency programs as "critical" for their graduates to know can also be inconsistent. We administered a national survey to investigate correlations between the cited importance of techniques and the relative frequency with which they are being taught. Materials and methods A three-round modified Delphi method was used to develop the survey. The final survey was sent to 143 training programs across the United States. The surveys collected information on the frequency with which thoracic epidural blocks, truncal blocks, and peripheral blocks were taught. The respondents were also asked to rate how critical each technique is to learn during residency. A correlation between the relative frequency of block teaching and cited importance to education was calculated using Kendall's Tau statistic. Results Among truncal procedures, transversus abdominis plane (TAP) block and thoracic epidural blocks were frequently viewed as "indispensable for daily practice." Among peripheral nerve blocks, interscalene, supraclavicular, adductor, and popliteal blocks were frequently viewed as indispensable. All truncal blocks showed a strong correlation between the relative frequency of block teaching and cited importance to education. However, the frequency of teaching interscalene, supraclavicular, femoral, and popliteal blocks failed to correlate with their reported importance ranking. Conclusions Perceived importance was significantly associated with the reported frequency of block teaching for all truncal and peripheral blocks except for interscalene, supraclavicular, femoral, and popliteal. The lack of correlation between the frequency of teaching and perceived importance is reflective of a changing educational landscape.

Keywords: block frequency; education; importance; nerve blocks; regional anesthesia education.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors have declared that no competing interests exist.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Relative frequencies of teaching of truncal blocks as described by the respondents
TAP, transversus abdominis plane; ESP, erector spinae plane; QL, quadratus lumborum; PECS, pectoralis; PVB, paravertebral block
Figure 2
Figure 2. Assessment of the importance of truncal blocks as reported by the respondents
TAP, transversus abdominis plane; ESP, erector spinae plane; QL, quadratus lumborum; PECS, pectoralis; PVB, paravertebral block
Figure 3
Figure 3. Relative frequencies of teaching of peripheral blocks as described by the respondents
iPACK: infiltration between popliteal artery and capsule of the knee
Figure 4
Figure 4. Assessment of the importance of peripheral blocks as reported by the respondents
iPACK: infiltration between popliteal artery and capsule of the knee
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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