We are pleased to announce a new section of the website entitled Plan A blocks.

 

A recent editorial by Turbitt et al in Anaesthesia highlighted the inconsistencies in education and training of anaesthetists to perform basic level regional blocks, and hypothesised that the explosion of new techniques facilitated by ultrasound had compounded the problem by intimidating the normal practitioner. They drafted a list of seven Plan A blocks that cover the key areas of surgery/acute pain, and suggested that every anaesthetist should be proficient in these, leaving the expert RA practitioner to help provide blocks for more complex circumstances. The text of the editorial is provided.

 

At RA-UK we believe in the widespread adoption of regional anaesthetic techniques for all, and it is our mission to improve patient care by promoting excellence in RA practice and education. 

 

We endorse the 7 Plan A blocks suggested, and have made available a new educational resource based on our popular Pocket Guide to Regional Anaesthesia - Second Edition. We will continue to update this section should new evidence arise to suggest other blocks fit the brief of “highest possible value to the greatest number of patients”. We hope that this can be used to teach and train the next generation of anaesthetists so that no-one comes out of training with an inability to provide this standard.

 

Regional experts will, of course, continue to provide the wide range of blocks as they see fit, and continue to research and push the boundaries of analgesia, and we fully support that endeavour.

 

You will find in this section on the right, detailed descriptions of each block taken from our pocket guide, which you will recieve for joining RA-UK. You can also download high resolution posters for printing, and watch our recent webinar on the Plan A blocks.