The 47th Annual Meeting of the Society for Obstetric Anesthesia and Perinatology was held from May 13th - 17th in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Weill Cornell Anesthesiology department was well-represented at the meeting with attending physicians Dr. Klaus Kjaer, Dr. Sharon Abramovitz, Dr. Jon Samuels, Dr. Farida Gadalla, Dr. Jamie Aaronson, Dr. Angela Selzer and OB Anesthesia Fellow Dr. Steven Beaudry in attendance.
The Department made a strong academic showing at the meeting with five abstracts accepted for poster presentations. Research abstracts included recent investigations in nausea and vomiting prophylaxis during cesarean section, prevention of perioperative maternal hypothermia, and the anesthetic management of parturients with placenta accreta at risk for severe obstetric hemorrhage (Dr. Jeremy Pick). Dr. Beaudry presented two challenging clinical cases detailing the intrapartum anesthetic management of two patients with severe pulmonary hypertension and dilated cardiomyopathy. Dr. Kjaer co-presented a session entitled, “Professional Development and Education Workshop” directed toward national OB anesthesia fellowship directors and core faculty.
Highlights of the meeting included a pro-con debate on the use of nitrous oxide for labor analgesia, new clinical research in vasopressor use for spinal-induced hypotension during cesarean section, as well as the rollout of three maternal safety bundle initiatives by the National Partnership for Maternal Safety regarding obstetric hemorrhage, maternal hypertension, and venous thromboembolism prevention.
Overall it was a very successful meeting. The 48th Annual SOAP Meeting will take place in Boston in May of 2016.