Overview
The Regional Anesthesia Division is a group of dedicated, innovative, and enthusiastic practitioners. We strive to be leaders in providing clinically excellent care for our patients. We perform approximately 3500 regional anesthesia techniques per year. As well, our site is the primary regional anesthesiology teaching center for the UBC Anesthesiology residency program, and we have a flourishing sub-specialty fellowship program that continues to mentor physicians from across Canada and around the world. We have an innovative research program where we are seeking out novel methods to provide safe, effective anesthesia and pain relief for our surgical patients. We provide education and coaching to practicing physicians through local, national, and international lectures and workshops. We have also recently been involved with at-the-bedside remote-mentorship in regional anesthesia techniques to our colleagues throughout rural British Columbia.
SPH Block Room
St. Paul’s Hospital features a busy block room associated with the main operating rooms which is staffed daily with a dedicated Regional Anesthesiologist and an Anesthesia Assistant. We provide single-shot and continuous peripheral nerve blocks, as well as thoracic epidurals for anywhere from 10-15 surgical patients per day. We also provide a home-catheter service for select patients so they can recover more comfortably after being discharged from the hospital. We have an active hip-fracture regional anesthesia pathway established to provide optimal pain relief for some of our frailest patients.
SPH Surgical Procedure Room (SPR)
In addition, St. Paul’s also operates a separate high-volume outpatient perioperative program where extremity surgeries are performed solely using regional anesthesia techniques in a swing-room model. One Surgeon, one Regional Anesthesiologist, and two operating rooms allow for minimal waiting between cases, along with efficient discharge of patients who are ready to eat, drink, and head home very quickly after their surgery.
MSJ Block Room
At Mount St. Joseph’s Hospital we have established a block room program dedicated to providing regional anesthesia for breast cancer surgery. Patients can choose to avoid a general anesthetic and have improved pain relief after their surgery. We were recently awarded a Best Patient Safety & Quality Award for the introduction of this program to Providence Health Care.
Leadership
Physician Lead, Regional Anesthesia
Director, Regional Anesthesia &
Director, Acute Pain Medicine Fellowships
Fellowship Opportunities
Learn more about Fellowship opportunities or contact us at sph-anae.fellowships@ubc.ca
Currently Recruiting Research Studies
Bilateral paravertebral blockade for improvement of quality of recovery following cardiac surgery(P-QOR): A randomized controlled trial PI: Dr. Terri Sun
The efficacy of pecto-intercostal fascial plane catheters for reduction of sternal pain in cardiac surgery patients with complete median sternotomy: A randomized, placebo-controlled trial PI: Dr. Ron Ree and Dr. Tim Ting Han Jen
CODEX Trial: Cognitive outcomes after Dexmedetomidine sedation in cardiac surgery patients PI: Dr. Raja Rajamohan