Computed tomographic-guided genitofemoral nerve block: a simple anterior approach.

Chronic groin pain, often as a consequence from surgery, is a challenge from both a diagnostic and treatment standpoint. Interventional therapy is often attempted.Genitofemoral nerve block can be used for the diagnosis and treatment of groin pain. Classically, this nerve is blocked blindly at the level of the pubic tubercle, or more recently, with ultrasound. We present a novel technique to blocking the genitofemoral nerve in males using an anterior approach with computed tomographic guidance.

Competency-Based Assessments: Leveraging Artificial Intelligence to Predict Subcompetency Content.

PURPOSE: Faculty feedback on trainees is critical to guiding trainee progress in a competency-based medical education framework. The authors aimed to develop and evaluate a Natural Language Processing (NLP) algorithm that automatically categorizes narrative feedback into corresponding Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education Milestone 2.0 subcompetencies. METHOD: Ten academic anesthesiologists analyzed 5,935 narrative evaluations on anesthesiology trainees at 4 graduate medical education (GME) programs between July 1, 2019, and June 30, 2021. Each sentence (n = 25,714) was labeled with the Milestone 2.0 subcompetency that best captured its content or was labeled as demographic or not useful. Inter-rater agreement was assessed by Fleiss' Kappa. The authors trained an NLP model to predict feedback subcompetencies using data from 3 sites and evaluated its performance at a fourth site. Performance metrics included area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), positive predictive value, sensitivity, F1, and calibration curves. The model was implemented at 1 site in a self-assessment exercise. RESULTS: Fleiss' Kappa for subcompetency agreement was moderate (0.44). Model performance was good for professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills, and practice-based learning and improvement (AUC 0.79, 0.79, and 0.75, respectively). Subcompetencies within medical knowledge and patient care ranged from fair to excellent (AUC 0.66-0.84 and 0.63-0.88, respectively). Performance for systems-based practice was poor (AUC 0.59). Performances for demographic and not useful categories were excellent (AUC 0.87 for both). In approximately 1 minute, the model interpreted several hundred evaluations and produced individual trainee reports with organized feedback to guide a self-assessment exercise. The model was built into a web-based application. CONCLUSIONS: The authors developed an NLP model that recognized the feedback language of anesthesiologists across multiple GME programs. The model was operationalized in a self-assessment exercise. It is a powerful tool which rapidly organizes large amounts of narrative feedback.

Retrospective analysis of quality improvement when using liposome bupivacaine for postoperative pain control.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVE: Liposome bupivacaine, a prolonged-release bupivacaine formulation, recently became available at the Naval Medical Center San Diego (NMCSD); before availability, postsurgical pain for large thoracic/abdominal procedures was primarily managed with opioids with/without continuous thoracic epidural (CTE) anesthesia. This retrospective chart review was part of a clinical quality initiative to determine whether postsurgical outcomes improved after liposome bupivacaine became available. METHODS: Data from patients who underwent laparotomy, sternotomy, or thoracotomy at NMCSD from May 2013 to May 2014 (after liposome bupivacaine treatment became available) were compared with data from patients who underwent these same procedures from December 2011 to May 2012 (before liposome bupivacaine treatment became available). Collected data included demographics, postoperative pain control methods, opioid consumption, perioperative pain scores, and lengths of intensive care unit and overall hospital stays. RESULTS: Data from 182 patients were collected: 88 pre-liposome bupivacaine (laparotomy, n=52; sternotomy, n=26; and thoracotomy, n=10) and 94 post-liposome bupivacaine (laparotomy, n=49; sternotomy, n=31; and thoracotomy, n=14) records. Mean hospital stay was 7.0 vs 5.8 days (P=0.009) in the pre- and post-liposome bupivacaine groups, respectively, and mean highest reported postoperative pain score was 7.1 vs 6.2 (P=0.007), respectively. No other significant between-group differences were observed for the overall population. In the laparotomy subgroup, there was a reduction in the proportion of patients who received CTE anesthesia post-liposome bupivacaine (22% [11/49] vs 35% [18/52] pre-liposome bupivacaine). CONCLUSION: Surgeons and anesthesiologists have changed the way they manage postoperative pain since the time point that liposome bupivacaine was introduced at NMCSD. Our findings suggest that utilization of liposome bupivacaine may be a useful alternative to epidural anesthesia.