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Background: The epidural anesthesia technique is a challenging skill to master. The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) stipulates that anesthesiology residents must complete 40 epidural procedures by the end of junior residency. The rationale is unknown. The aim of this prospective study was to determine the minimum case experience required to demonstrate competence in performing obstetric combined spinal-epidural procedures among junior residents, using an objective statistical tool, the cumulative sum (CUSUM) analysis., Methods: Twenty-four residents, with no prior experience performing epidurals, sequentially recorded all obstetric combined spinal-epidural procedures as a 'success' or 'failure', based on study criteria. Individual CUSUM graphs were plotted, with acceptable and unacceptable failure rates set at 20% and 35%, respectively. The number of procedural attempts necessary to demonstrate competence was determined., Results: Twenty-four residents (mean (SD) age 29 (2) years) participated in the study. Median (IQR) number of procedures was 78 (66-85), with a median (IQR) success rate of 86% (82-89%). Nineteen of 24 residents required a median (IQR) of 40 (33-50) attempts to demonstrate competence. Five did not achieve procedural competence in the training period. The CUSUM graphs highlighted performance trends that required intervention., Conclusion: Competence was achieved by 19/24 residents after the ACGME-required case experience of 40 combined spinal-epidural procedures, based on a predefined acceptable failure rate of 20%. In our experience, CUSUM analysis is useful in monitoring technical performance over time and should be included as an adjunct assessment method for determining procedural competence., (Copyright © 2020 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

Background: Maternal mortality in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) is higher than in high-income countries (HICs), and poor anesthesia care is a contributing factor. Many anesthesia complications are considered preventable with adequate training. The Safer Anaesthesia From Education Obstetric Anaesthesia (SAFE-OB) course was designed as a refresher course to upgrade the skills of anesthesia providers in low-income countries, but little is known about the long-term impact of the course on changes in practice. We report changes in practice at 4 and 12-18 months after SAFE-OB courses in Madagascar and the Republic of Congo., Methods: We used a concurrent embedded mixed-methods design based on the Kirkpatrick model for evaluating educational training courses. The primary outcome was qualitative determination of personal and organizational change at 4 months and 12-18 months. Secondary outcomes were quantitative evaluations of knowledge and skill retention over time. From 2014 to 2016, 213 participants participated in 5 SAFE-OB courses in 2 countries. Semistructured interviews were conducted at 4 and 12-18 months using purposive sampling and analyzed using thematic content analysis. Participants underwent baseline knowledge and skill assessment, with 1 cohort reevaluated using repeat knowledge and skills tests at 4 months and another at 12-18 months., Results: At 4 months, 2 themes of practice change (Kirkpatrick level 3) emerged that were not present at 12-18 months: neonatal resuscitation and airway management. At 12-18 months, 4 themes emerged: management of obstetric hemorrhage, management of eclampsia, using a structured approach to assessing a pregnant woman, and management of spinal anesthesia. With respect to organizational culture change (Kirkpatrick level 4), the same 3 themes emerged at both 4 and 12-18 months: improved teamwork, communication, and preparation. Resistance from peers, lack of senior support, and lack of resources were cited as barriers to change at 4 months, but at 12-18 months, very few interviewees mentioned lack of resources. Identified catalysts for change were self-motivation, credibility, peer support, and senior support. Knowledge and skills tests both showed an immediate improvement after the course that was sustained. This supports the qualitative responses suggesting personal and organizational change., Conclusions: Participation at a SAFE-OB course in the Republic of Congo and in Madagascar was associated with personal and organizational changes in practice and sustained improvements in knowledge and skill at 12-18 months.

Background: Physician educators must balance the need for resident procedural education with clinical time pressures as well as patient safety and comfort. Alternative educational strategies, including e-learning tools, may be beneficial to orient novice learners to new procedures and speed proficiency. We created an e-learning tool (computer-enhanced visual learning [CEVL] neuraxial) to enhance trainee proficiency in combined spinal-epidural catheter placement in obstetric patients and performed a randomized controlled 2-center trial to test the hypothesis that use of the tool improved the initial procedure performed by the anesthesiology residents., Methods: Anesthesiology residents completing their first obstetric anesthesiology rotation were randomized to receive online access to the neuraxial module (CEVL group) or no access (control) 2 weeks before the rotation. On the first day of the rotation, residents completed a neuraxial procedure self-confidence scale and an open-ended medical knowledge test. Blinded raters observed residents performing combined spinal-epidural catheter techniques in laboring parturients using a procedural checklist (0-49 pts); the time required to perform the procedure was recorded. The primary outcome was the duration of the procedure., Results: The CEVL group had significantly shorter mean (±standard deviation) procedure time compared to the control group 22.5 ± 4.9 vs 39.5 ± 7.1 minutes (P < .001) and had higher scores on the overall performance checklist 36.4 ± 6.6 vs 28.8 ± 7.1 (P = .012). The intervention group also had higher scores on the open-ended medical knowledge test (27.83 ± 3.07 vs 22.25 ± 4.67; P = .002), but self-confidence scores were not different between groups (P = .64)., Conclusions: CEVL neuraxial is a novel prerotation teaching tool that may enhance the traditional initial teaching of combined spinal-epidural procedures in obstetric anesthesiology. Future research should examine whether the use of web-based learning tools impacts long-term provider performance or patient outcomes.

Background: Cumulative sum (CUSUM) analysis has been used for assessing competence of trainees learning new technical skills. One of its disadvantages is the required definition of acceptable and unacceptable success rates. We therefore monitored the development of competence amongst trainees new to obstetric epidural anaesthesia in a large public hospital., Methods: Obstetric epidural data were collected prospectively between January 1996 and December 2011. Success rates for inexperienced trainees were calculated retrospectively for (1) the whole database, (2) for each consecutive attempt and (3) each trainee's individual overall success rate. Acceptable and unacceptable success rates were defined and CUSUM graphs generated for each trainee. Competence was assessed for each trainee and the number of attempts to reach competence recorded., Results: Mean (sd) success rate for all inexperienced trainees was 76.8 (0.1%), range 63-90%. Consecutive attempt success rate produced a learning curve with a mean success rate commencing at 58% on attempt 1. After attempt 10 the attempt number had no effect on subsequent success rates. From these results, the acceptable and unacceptable success rates were set at 65 and 55% respectively. CUSUM graphs demonstrated 76 out of 81 trainees competent after a mean of 46 (22) attempts., Conclusions: CUSUM is useful for assessing trainee epidural competence. Trainees require approximately 50 attempts, as defined by CUSUM, to reach competence., (© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Journal of Anaesthesia. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.)

The extent of a regional block for Caesarean section must be tested and documented before surgery commences. In recent years a block to 'touch' that includes T5 has increasingly been considered the best predictive test for a pain-free Caesarean section. Our survey examines the consistency with which different anaesthetists identified the location of the T5 dermatome. Seventy-three anaesthetists were asked to mark a point on an anatomical picture to indicate where they would test for T5. Overall there was good agreement on the location of the T5 dermatome, but one in seven anaesthetists were inaccurate by two or more dermatomes. There were no statistically significant differences between the subgroups of senior house officer, specialist registrar and consultant anaesthetists. The knowledge of relevant dermatome levels should be an integral part of obstetric anaesthetic training.