Editor's Corner
The Light at the End of the Tunnel
Yuan-Chi Lin, MD, MPH, FAAP
Francis Kraemer, MD
T. Anthony Anderson, MD, PhD
Amy B. Beethe, MD
Jason Brown, MD
Eugene Kim, MD
Galaxy Li, MD
Chang Amber Liu, MD, MSc, FAAP
Diana Liu, MD
Rebecca L. Wu, MD
Welcome to the Fall issue of the SPPM Newsletter! No one could have predicted the changes we have endured this year. With our society’s reprioritization of social interactions overnight at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, it could seem as if we have been living in a science fiction movie. The virus is invisible and indiscriminate. The lethality of COVID-19 has positioned it as the third leading cause of death in the United States after heart diseases and cancer. Several months into the deadly disease, there are still unanswered questions about transmission and treatment as one can only wonder how sustainable our new normal can be. This new normal to which we have been forced to adapt has transformed our society from in-person medical visits, handshakes, and large group gatherings to virtual visits, elbow bumps, and Zoom conferences. During this global crisis, the continued support we give each other as expert medical colleagues and friends, provides endurance to withstand this lethal pandemic and fight towards the light at the end of the tunnel.
We appreciate SPPM president Dr. Rita Agarwal’s leadership. Along with the Board of Directors, she has worked tirelessly to guide SPPM through the COVID-19 pandemic. We have created many new committees including: Communications, Research, Advocacy, and Finance & Membership. By promoting these committee activities, we can positively affect pediatric pain management training, research, and patient care.
The Education Committee led by Dr. Robert Wilder, along with annual Meeting Chair, Dr. Marisa Wiktor has spent countless hours organizing our Eighth Annual Meeting. This is the first time that the SPPM Annual Meeting will be hosted in a virtual format. The SPPM meeting will be held April 24 – 25, 2021 and will offer an excellent and wide range of content. We look forward to “seeing” all SPPM members in attendance at this extraordinary symposium in April 2021.
We are excited about the creation of two new Special Interest Groups (SIGs): Creating, Maintaining, and Supporting Pediatric Pain Services SIG, chaired by Dr. Alina Lazar; and Intensive Interdisciplinary Pain Treatment SIG, co-chaired by Drs. Eugene Kim and Sara Williams. These newly created SIGs will be presented in this issue of SPPM Newsletter. All interested SPPM members should contact the respective chairs for future SIG activities and opportunities.
This past October virtual American Society of Anesthesiologists Annual Meeting featured several exciting pediatric pain research papers and case report presentations. In this Newsletter, we are pleased to have the presenting authors summarize their valuable experience as well as significant contributions.
Promoting pediatric regional anesthesia education, service and research is an integral part of our SPPM mission. In this issue, we are very fortunate to include experts in pediatric regional anesthesia to provide a comprehensive review. We hope this special review not only enhances our knowledge, but also leads to improvements in patient care.
The SPPM would like to sincerely thank former SPPM president Dr. Sabine Kost-Byerly for providing an exceptional appraisal of current literature in pediatric pain medicine. We would also like to thank our contributors for making this issue possible. The SPPM Newsletter belongs to all SPPM members. We appreciate your encouragement and support. We would love to hear from you. Please feel free to contact us with any questions, suggestions, or comments: Yuan-Chi Lin, MD, MPH, FAAP, [email protected].
