Tag Archives: outcomes

2026 Western Anaesthesia Symposium – Lake House Glasson April 17 and 18th

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“A MODERN EXPERIENCED BASED PRACTICE OF ANAESTHESIOLOGY”

You have asked for it – a completely new type of meeting – fewer lectures, more interaction. This year we are premiering the “Metasession” where common questions and controversies will be addressed by an expert panel “In Conversation.” Plus the usual workshops, posters, case presentations and, of course, it wouldn’t be WAS without the controversies: “So you think you know about….”

Registration: EVENTBRITE

Hosted by Western Anaesthesiology Society, University of Galway, In Conjunction With Portiuncula and Roscommon Hospitals and Approved for CME by the College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland

Click Below to Download Abstract Submission Form (Scientific Presentations, Research, Audit and Case Presentations)

Abstract Form WAS 2026Download

PROGRAMME

Friday April 17th 2026

Morning Workshops 09.00-13.00 (require additional registration)

Regional Anaesthesia Masterclass (Consultants Only)

Facilitators: John McDonnell  & Niall Cribben (plus faculty)

Airway Workshop

Facilitators: Ciara Hanley & Brian Harte (plus faculty)

1.00  “Poster” Presentations – Trainees

Facilitator: Colm Keane

Research and audit studies are presented by a variety of trainees and students.

2.30 – 4.00 Regional Anaesthesia Metasession

The team will discuss current hot topics in regional anaesthesia, how they approach common and uncommon nerve blocks. There will be discussions about chest wall and abdominal blocks; additives and whether or not they are valuable; ideal block duration; compartment syndromes; anticoagulants and blocks; LAST – is it the dose, the volume or the location that is the main problem

Facilitator: John McDonnell

METASESSION TEAM

Vicentes Roques (Murcia, Spain)

Roman Zuecher (Basel, Switzerland)

John McDonnell (GUH)

Niall Cribben (RUH, GUH)

4.00 – 4.30

Coffee

4.30 – 6.00 Airway Management Metasession

Facilitator: Craig Lyons

METASESSION TEAM

The team will discuss airway strategy, videolaryndoscopy performance, how and when to do awake intubation, VAFI, airway surgery, the use of HFO amongst other things

Craig Lyons (GUH)

Alaistair McNarry (Edinburgy, Scotland)

Tony Hennessy (Cork)

6.15 NAP 8 Quick Overview Aoife Driscoll (Cork)

6.30 – 7.15 Plenary Lecture and Interview

Dr. Alistair McNarry – President of the Difficult Airway Society

Facilitator: Dr Michael Callaghan, UHG

7.30 Barbecue

Saturday April 18th 2026

08.00 Case  Presentation Competition

Facilitators: Mike Scully & Martina Melvin

These are clinical cases that are presented by anaesthesia trainees that illustrates clinical conundrums in anaesthesiology and critical care.

09.15 – 10.45 University of Galway Session

Moderators: Prof. John Laffey & Prof. John McDonnell

Prof. Vincenzo Russotto, University of Turin

“The Physiologically Difficult Airway”

Vicentes Roques (Murcia, Spain) – “AI is coming to Regional Anaesthesia”

10.45 – 11.15 Coffee

11.15- 12.30 SYT Session  “So You Think You Know About…….”

This Hi-Impact session will contain 4 talks about issues relating to anaesthesia and critical care that most of us THINK we understand, but once you peel away the layers we….probably don’t.

Michael O’Connor (Univ. Chicago) “….Large Language Models” ✅

Lua Rahmani (Toronto)– “TCI Propofol….do we have any idea what we are targeting?”

Mai O’Sullivan (GUH) – “You think that Simulation Training is a waste of resources?

Leo Kevin (GUH)  – “Adjuncts to Pain Management in the Operating Room – are we deceiving ourselves?”

Pat Neligan (GUH)  “Preoxygenation – are you doing it all wrong?”

12.30 – 13.15 Plenary Lecture        

Michael O’Connor (University of Chicago) – “Understanding Medical Accidents: What Have We Learned and Failed to Learn Over 20 Years?”

Lunch in the Main Restaurant

Coffee in Exhibit Hall

14.30 – 16.00 Intravenous Anaesthesia Metasession

Facilitator: Dr Lua Rahmani (Toronto)

The team will discuss a range of topics that are current or controversial in Intravenous Anaesthesia. The current role of propofol and whether we are overdosing our patients; propofol vs remimazolam; the use or underuse of ketamine; do we need BIS or equivalent during TIVA? Is there any benefit to “modern” TCI models (Schnider/Eleveld) – and what is the story in elderly, obese and ICU patients? Is TIVA “green”? TIVA in paediatrics, radiology, and ICU; the role of dexmedetomidine, lidocaine, magnesium and all of those other “adjuncts” etc. Is “opioid free anaesthesia” a meaningful advance or just cheap hype?

The METASESSION TEAM:

Lua Rahmani (Toronto)

Eoin Young (Cambridge)

Jacinta McGinley (Crumlin)

20.00 Gala Dinner in the Restaurant

Join us to celebrate another great year in our specialty and in our region. Hosted by Dr Mark Ross, President of WAS. Special Guest Prof. Donal Buggy, President of the College of Anaesthesiologists of Ireland.

THERE ARE LOTS OF HOTELS AND GUEST HOUSES IN THE AREA – GLASSON IS NEAR ATHLONE AND THE M6 MOTORWAY – AN EASY COMMUNTE FROM ANYWHERE EAST, WEST, MIDLANDS.

Western Anaesthesia Symposium April 2026 Preliminary ProgrammeDownload

Social and Other Activities

Outdoor heated swimming pool on site

Gym on each floor

Hot tubs

18 Hole Golf Course

Driving Range

Paddle Boarding

Kayaking

Row Boats (including motorised ones)

Western Anaesthesia Society
WAS
WESTERN
ANAESTHESIA
SOCIETY

Giving up Colloid? – Yes we can!

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Colloid lovers are distraught by the publication of the 6S study from Scandanavia, which has demonstrated that hydroxy ethyl starches (HES) were associated with poor outcomes (read here). For many of us, however, colloids are like nicotine, caffeine, carbohydrates and heroin rolled into one: we just believe in them. It’s so hard to stop. This month in Critical Care Medicine, a German hospital critical care group proved that you could – quit! (read here – subscription required)
In the Jena intensive care unit, over a 6 year period, clinicians initially used HES, gelatin and crystalloid, then gelatin and crystalloid and ultimately crystalloid only. Bayer and colleagues looked at CVP changes, SvO2, lactate normalisation, normalisation of MAP and discontinuation of vasopressors – comparing each phase against each other. In the first instance, CVP increased faster with colloids than crystalloids, which would be terrific if anyone had ever shown that rapidly increasing CVP improved outcomes. It doesn’t. In fact CVP is next to useless (if you don’t believe me – read this). Fluids are administered to reverse shock, and in each of the phases colloids had no appreciable benefit. Indeed, the amount colloid versus crystalloid was revealing: for HES it was 1:1.4 (HES vs Crystalloid i.e. 700ml Lactated Ringers versus 500ml HES 130/0.4); for gelatin it was 1:1.1 (i.e. 550ml LR versus 500ml gelatin). So there was little, if any, colloid effect. Moreover, patients in the crystalloid group mobilised fluid earlier than those in the colloid group.
So, colloids had no beneficial effect. What about harm? There was more acute kidney injury, worsened renal indices and longer continuous renal replacement therapy in the colloid group. Finally, patients who received colloids spent longer on mechanical ventilators than patients who received crystalloids.
It could be argued that this cohort study was flawed in that, as medicine advance, outcomes necessarily improve. So the newest patients should have had the best outcomes. However, there is no evidence that critical care outcomes are better now than 7 or 8 years ago, nor has the clinical practice move on significantly. From my perspective these data are valid, and may provide a roadmap to navigating ourselves away from the crutch and clutch of colloids.

EuSOS study published – and it’s not pretty!

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46,539 patients from all over Europe were recruited to the The European Surgical Outcomes Study over 7 days in April 2011 (read here). Day cases, cardiac and neurosurgical patients were excluded. The overall mortality rate was 4% (nearly 1 in 20 patients). 8% of patients were admitted to ICU or HDU at some stage – but, astonishingly, 73% of those who died never saw a critical care practitioner.
For Ireland 856 patients were recruited into the study; 66 went to critical care beds postoperatively. Median hospital stay was 3 days (1.0-6.0). 6.4% died in hospital, with an unadjusted (for severity of illness) odds ratio of death (compared with the UK) of 1.86. When severity of illness was taken into account the OR of death was 2.61. This puts us down the scale of outcomes with Croatia, Slovakia (better), and Romania and Latvia (marginally worse).
What is truely frightening about these data – is that the reference country, the UK, aside from having a similar population to ours, had worse outcomes than they had expected (mortality 3.6% rather than the predicted 1.6%).
It could be argued that these data are skewed by relatively low numbers, recruitment exclusively in academic medical centers (private hospitals cherry pick the healthiest elective surgery patients), the significant limitations of the ASA physical status grade (between 2 and 3 there really should be 3 more grades – clinicians may have also reported patients as a ASA-PS 2 when they really were a 3), reporting bias etc. Alternatively, our patients might do badly because of  weaker nursing care at ward level and fewer critical care beds per head of population.
If the anaesthesia and critical care community in Ireland wants to look into this further, perhaps a worthwhile study would be an enthusiatic clinician to pull out the charts of all 856 patients and figure out why Ireland did so badly. Comments?