Minutes of the 15^th Annual Conference of the Indian Society of Neuroanaesthesiology and Critical Care - ISNACC 2014, 31st January - 2nd February 2014, Jaipur

The Indian Society of Neuroanesthesiology and Critical Care (ISNACC) welcomed its members and neuroanesthesiologists from all over the world to Jaipur, the Pink city of India, for the 15^th Annual National Conference held from 31^st January to 2^nd February 2014. The diligently worked out scientific program of this conference brought innovations and advances in neuroanesthesiology to the forefront as we welcomed a record number of registered attendees from all corners of the globe with the primary purpose of sharing information for the advancement of the super specialty.

The meeting began with a schedule of concurrently held workshops, scientific sessions and oration on Friday and concluded with the formal valedictory function on Sunday. The scientific sessions on Friday and Saturday were followed by Banquet dinner with delicious food, fine drinks and a vibrant cultural program. The release of our very own journal, Journal of Neuroanesthesiology and Critical Care during the inaugural function on the 1^st day was the high point of the conference.

“Safe pediatric neuroanesthesia” being the theme for this conference, the entire 1^st day pre-lunch session had been dedicated to the same.

The conference opened with inauguration and Dr. Tariq Wani’s (USA) talk on Pediatric Airway Management followed by lectures on “fluid and transfusion therapy in children” and “anesthetic management of craniosynostosis” by Dr. Mary Abraham (Noida) and Dr. Zulfiqar Ali (Srinagar), respectively. After a short tea break and Dr. Malathi oration by Dr. Masahiko Kawaguchi (Japan) on “evoked potential monitoring”, Dr. Craig McClain (USA) spoke on “intracranial brain tumors in children”. Later, Dr. Deepak Sharma (USA) and Dr. Piyush Patel (USA) delivered talks on “pediatric traumatic brain injury” and “anesthetic neurotoxicity in neonates”, respectively.

Another highlight of 1^st day were two workshops, one on transcranial Doppler (TCD) conducted by Dr. Hemanshu Prabhakar (New Delhi) and Dr. Devendra Gupta (Lucknow) to introduce basic principles and techniques of TCD ultrasonography and its application to the practice of neuroanesthesiology. It also included discussion on the specific applications of TCD ultrasonography and interpretation of TCD waveforms. Another workshop was on mechanical ventilation conducted by a team of Dr. S. P. Sharma (Jaipur), Dr. Suresh Bhargava (Jaipur), Dr. Rajesh Sharma (Jaipur) and Dr. Rakesh Modi (Jaipur), which included basics of mechanical ventilation, interpretation of ventilator waveforms, weaning off from ventilator and mechanical ventilation in complicated scenarios like acute respiratory distress syndrome, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and traumatic brain injury and ventilator – associated pneumonia.

Simultaneously lectures were held on “incidental surgery in epilepsy” by Dr. Pragati Ganjoo (New Delhi) and “surgery for seizure disorders” by Dr. Manikandan (Thiruvananthapuram). These were followed by a session including lectures on “critical care for subarachnoid hemorrhage” by Dr. Michael Souter (USA) and “neuromonitoring in intensive care unit (ICU)” by Dr. Luzius Steiner (Switzerland). Evening session was dedicated to “Pain relief after craniotomy” by Dr. Nidhi Panda (Chandigarh). Preliminary round of quiz for postgraduate students was also conducted by Dr. Avnish Bharadwaj (Jaipur), Dr. Sushil Bhati (Jaipur), Dr. Mamta Khandelwal (Jaipur), Dr. Manish Khandelwal (Jaipur) and their teams, on the basis of which teams for final round of quiz were decided.

The 2^nd day commenced with lectures on theme “neuroanesthesia beyond the brain” by our distinguished ISNACC Panel members – “how and why we need to fix the medical literature” by Dr. John Hartung (USA), “ethical challenges in neuroanesthesia” by Dr. Jeffery Pasternak (USA) and “patient safety in neuroanesthesia” by Dr. Cor J. Kalkman (Netherlands), which was highly appreciated by all the delegates. This was followed by Prof. G. R. Gode oration by Dr. S. S. Saini (Gurgaon) on “ethical decisions to institute or withdraw therapy in neuro ICU”. Afternoon session included lectures on “cerebral protection during cardiac bypass surgery” by Dr. Yatin Mehta (Gurgaon), “diagnosis and management of brain death” by Dr. Sanjith (Mumbai) and “palliative care in neurologically compromised patients” by Dr. Sushma Bhatnagar (New Delhi). Simultaneously problem based learning discussions were going on by groups comprised of 15 participants each, on “meningomyelocele” by Dr. V. J. Ramesh (Bengaluru) and “posterior fossa: Anesthetic management” by Dr. Monica Tandon (New Delhi) in morning session.

Post lunch scientific session included talks on “anesthesia for pregnant neurological patient” by Dr. Vasudha Singhal (Gurgaon), “current concepts in monitoring and management of raised ICP” by Dr. Smita Sharma (Mumbai) followed by a lecture on “minimal endoscopic surgery and anesthetic concerns” by Dr. Sucharita Chakravarti (Kolkata). Simultaneously, problem based learning discussions were held by Dr. Anil Parakh (Mumbai) about “clipping of aneurysm” and Dr. Prasanna Bidkar (Puducherry) on “anesthesia for cervical spinal injury”.

A panel discussion on “pediatric brain trauma guidelines: Indian scenario” was held in the evening session. Dr. Rajiv Chawla (New Delhi) moderated the session with panelists being Dr. Padmaja (Hyderabad), Dr. Hemant Bhagat (Chandigarh), Dr. Indranil Ghosh (Kolkata), Dr. V. D. Sinha (Jaipur) and Dr. Manish Agarwal (Jaipur). This was followed by final round of postgraduate quiz and General Body Meeting.

3^rd day comprised of innovative symposium on “functional neurosurgery” by Dr. Joseph Monteiro (Mumbai) and “translation research and evidence based practice” by Dr. Umamaheswara Rao (Bengaluru) followed by talks on “role of desflurane in neuroanesthesia” by Dr. Ramesh VJ (Bengaluru) and “volume therapy in surgery: Recent developments” by Dr. Sadanand Kulkarni (Pune). For the first time, a discussion with active involvement of audience on “research priorities in neuroanesthesia” was conducted and moderated by Dr. Deepak Sharma (USA), which was highly appreciated by all the delegates. This was followed by Prof. Hariwir Singh oration by Dr. V. K. Grover (Chandigarh) on “my journey through neuroanesthesia”.

The latest addition and highlight of 3^rd day was Inquisitive and interventional sessions on “Interventional neuroradiology” by Dr. Gyaninder P. Singh (New Delhi), “extra cranial surgery in head injured patients” by Dr. M. Srilata (Hyderabad), “delayed recovery” by Dr. Swagata Tripathy (Bhuvaneswar), “intra operative angry brain” by Dr. Virendra Jain (Gurgaon), “awake craniotomy” by Dr. Saurabh Anand (Gurgaon) and “intravenous versus inhalational induction in children” by Dr. Hemangi Karnik (Mumbai).

Interactive poster sessions in two categories, one of clinical studies and another of case reports, were also held on all the 3 days, out of which five were shortlisted for the “best poster prize”.

The conference concluded with valedictory function, prize distribution ceremony and lunch.

No conflict of interest has been declared by the author(s).