The Society of Critical Care Anesthesiologists

While anesthesia-related intraoperative mortality is rare, all-cause postoperative mortality, defined as death within the first 30 days of surgery, remains common. Overall, 30-day postoperative morality occurs in approximately 1-2% of all patients—approximately 1,000 times more frequently than anesthesia-related intraoperative mortality.

While there is some disagreement about the details, many observers of the medical profession believe that we are sailing into the teeth of an intensivist shortage, especially with an aging population that has a greater expectation for complex care late in life. The severity of this shortage is hard to assess, as conclusions have varied widely depending on the methodology used.

For the past few years, we’ve highlighted members and their achievements in this ongoing series. This month, we will highlight Vivian Abalama,CAE, IOM, the SOCCA Society Director from the IARS. Without her, many of the Society’s day-to-day functions would not exist and our Physician leadership, committees and others would surely be lost.

Adult acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) remains a serious problem, accounting for or complicating close to 10% of all ICU admissions, and with an associated mortality in the 35-45% range. Robust clinical evidence for ventilatory management has helped to create established and accepted guidelines for parameters such as ideal tidal volume of 4-8 cc/kg predicted body weight, optimal PEEP to avoid hypoxemia and de-recruitment while minimizing barotrauma, and this has resulted in improved survival outcomes in patients with ARDS.

If you have an interesting case report, an idea for a pro-con discussion, a review idea, or an opinion on a recently published article, please review the submission guidelines, then submit your proposal/ article to the Newsletter Editor, Craig S. Jabaley, MD at csjabaley@emory.edu on or before October 15, 2019. If your article is chosen for the newsletter, we will contact you for editing and formatting. Thank you.

This contribution to the Interchange is being written before our annual meeting in Montreal. Montreal promises to be an exciting time where SOCCA members will be presented with numerous educational and networking opportunities. This gathering will also see various SOCCA committees meeting to determine goals that will further our mission of supporting and developing anesthesiologists who care for critically ill patients.

Communication is the action of exchanging information and ideas. It is a give and take. It is a part of our everyday lives…in the everyday interactions we have with our families, friends, co-workers, patients and their families. Communication is a two-way street and relies on a free-flowing give and take of ideas.

As we approach the annual SOCCA meeting, it is a great time to reflect on the benefits of being a member of SOCCA. We, therefore, asked a few current SOCCA members why they belong and this is what we heard.

According to SOCCA bylaws, the work of the nominating committee is to recommend a slate of candidates for board and executive committee elections to the SOCCA board, and to suggest candidates for the two awards given out by SOCCA in alternate years: the Burchardi and Lifetime Achievement awards.

An important and exciting role for Critical Care Anesthesiologists is the development and utilization of new tools and therapies to treat patients with severe, life-threatening injuries. It seems as though every time I round in the ICU, I encounter something new in one or more of my patients.