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A Day of Neuroanaesthesia and Neurocritical Care Learning at the NACCS UK 2021 CPD Meeting: A Trainee Perspective

Dr. Connal
Stuart Connal, MBChB, BMedSci (Hons), MRCP, FRCA
Dr. Douglas
Deborah Douglas, DM, MSc
Dr. Adedugbe
Ibukun Adedugbe, MBBS, BSc, FRCA, FCAI, MBA

Stuart Connal, MBChB, BMedSci (Hons), MRCP, FRCA
ST5 Trainee, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
 London, UK

Deborah Douglas, DM, MSc
Senior Clinical Fellow, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
London, UK

Ibukun Adedugbe, MBBS, BSc, FRCA, FCAI, MBA
Consultant Neuroanaesthetist, National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery
London, UK

There is always great anticipation and excitement leading up to the Neuro Anaesthesia and Critical Care Society (NACCS) meetings, and this year certainly did not disappoint.

Structure Of Meeting
It was broken down into 'mini-symposiums', making it a more palatable way of digesting and compartmentalizing learning from the talks as specific themes and topics were discussed. The structure of the program allowed one to be exposed to many different aspects pertaining to the management of the neurosurgical patient. The meeting was expertly moderated by Dr. Gemma Nickols and the NACCS team.

Content Of Meeting
The content of the meeting generated a lot of reflection on management and our local practice.

slidesTake-home points

  • The expert speakers delivering the mini- symposiums on subarachnoid hemorrhage and pituitary surgery highlighted the value of integrated cross-specialty collaboration between interventional neuroradiology, neurosurgery, endocrinology, neuroanesthesia, and neurocritical care throughout the entire perioperative pathway for our patients.
  • Drs. Hasan and El-Ghazali emphasized the importance of patient-centered care and shared decision-making - highly applicable to neurosurgical patients.
  • Dr. Carey shared the opportunities presented by the new RCoA curriculum to deliver high quality.
  • Training neuroanesthesia to trainees who will become future consultants.
  • Dr. Soar's session on prognostication after hypoxic brain injury provided an informative and reflective close to a fantastic event.

We reflected on how to incorporate these learnings into local practice. In addition to this, exposure to topics like neurolinguistics where one did not have an overwhelming amount of knowledge engendered a lot of interest and inspired a desire to explore  this area further. The question portion of the meeting proved to also be quite informative, yet again providing another opportunity to learn.

Virtual Meeting This Year
With respect to a virtual format and the platform, there will always be the threat (and subsequent promise) of being somewhat sabotaged by poor internet connection or transmission. However, there were little to no technical glitches on the day. Also, because the meeting was being held virtually, even being on sick leave (for one of us) did not stand in the way of the opportunity to log in, listen and participate. There was also an opportunity to network as needed and the added bonus of having access to watch the talks online after the meeting if you registered for the meeting.

In conclusion, it was an informative and truly engaging day, and we are looking forward to the next meeting from the NACCS, which will hopefully be in person or a hybrid mode. Hope to see you there!

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