Report on Annual Scientific Meeting of Neuro Anaesthesia and Critical Care Society of Great Britain and Ireland, 2017 Held at London, UK

The 2017 Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) of the Neuroanaesthesia and Critical Care Society of Great Britain and Ireland (NACCSGBI) was held at The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Savoy Place, London (UK) on 18^th and 19^th May 2017. The ASM was a joint meeting with the Society for Neuroscience in Anesthesiology and Critical Care (SNACC). The essential aim of the ASM was ‘best practice and improving care’.

A total of 324 delegates participated in the meeting. The delegation of seven Indian Society of Neuroananesthesiology and Critical Care (ISNACC) members who attended the event included Rajshree Deopujari (Mumbai), Madhusudan Reddy (Bengaluru), Hemanshu Prabhakar (New Delhi), Prasanna Bidkar (Puducherry), Sriganesh Kamath (Bengaluru), Barkha Bindu (New Delhi) and Rajeeb Mishra (New Delhi).

The event commenced with a welcome and introductory note by Dr. John Andrzejowski, NACCS President, in which he warmly welcomed the ISNACC members along with others. This was followed by a History of SNACC by Dr. Andrew Kofke. The first scientific session was themed ‘improving outcome-lessons from our colleagues’ which included sessions on ‘TIVA and cancer’ and ‘big data and outcome.’ This was followed by a mini-symposium on ‘neural mechanisms of anaesthetic induced unconsciousness’ followed by the Annual General Meeting. There were parallel breakout sessions that included ‘case based discussions: USA versus UK practice’ and ‘electroencephalography for neuroanaesthesia’. During the lunch break, there was a symposium on ‘lessons learnt customising a clinical information system for the neuro Intensive Care Unit’. Post-lunch sessions included a mini-symposium on ‘enhanced recovery pathways’, a debate on ‘whether a formal neuroanaesthetic fellowship makes a difference’ and a session on ‘optimal care from battlefield to critical care in trauma’. Day 1 concluded with the presidents’ reception at the IET followed by a musical evening and dinner. During the dinner, a special welcome of the ISNACC members by the new President, NACCS, Dr. Judith Dinsmore was an overwhelming moment.

Day 2 of the meeting started with a mini-symposium on ‘reducing perioperative complications’ followed by a session on ‘anaesthesia for thrombectomy’. The prelunch session included six free paper and travel award presentations and was chaired by Dr. Matthew Wiles (Member, NACCSGBI Council). Dr. Hemanshu Prabhakar from AIIMS, New Delhi, presented his oral paper titled ‘effect of peak end-expiratory pressure on optic nerve sheath diameter in paediatric patients with traumatic brain injury’. There were breakout sessions on ‘neuromonitoring in theatre and neuro intensive care unit’ and ‘dexmedetomidine in neuroanaesthesia and neuroradiology’. The post-lunch session was on ‘controversies in brain death’ followed by a lecture on ‘perceptions of consciousness’. The meeting closed with prize presentations for best oral paper and best poster presentation. Dr. Sriganesh Kamath from NIMHANS, India was awarded the best poster prize for his research paper titled ‘cerebral oxygenation changes after decompressive craniectomy in patients with malignant cerebral venous thrombosis’. Other research work presented from India by ISNACC members included ‘optic nerve sheath diameter response to end-tidal carbon dioxide concentration in patients under general anaesthesia’ by Dr. Hemanshu Prabhakar, AIIMS; ‘effects of crystalloid preloading (20 ml/kg) on hemodynamics during positioning in patients undergoing neurological operations in sitting position’ by Dr. Prasanna U Bidkar, JIPMER; ‘comparison of full outline of unresponsiveness score and the conventional scores in predicting outcome in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage patients’ by Dr. Rajeeb Mishra, AIIMS; ‘neuroprotective role of dexmedetomidine in epilepsy surgery: A preliminary study’ and ‘practical issues in anaesthesia: A nationwide survey in India’ by Dr. Barkha Bindu, AIIMS; ‘comparison of scalp block and local anesthetic skin infiltration for craniotomy on analgesia nociceptive index guided fentanyl consumption: A randomised controlled trial’ by Dr. Madhusudan Reddy, NIMHANS.

The event concluded with an official announcement of the NACCS ASM 2018 at Bristol, UK to be held on 10^th and 11^th May, 2018. We are sure all delegates returned with fond memories of their stay in London, with a hope to revisit the UK next year for some more scientific treat.