Newswise — Known for his pioneering work on the development and use of propofol as well as perineural catheters for continuous nerve blocks, Dr. Alain Borgeat of Switzerland has been awarded the prestigious Gaston Labat Award for his many contributions to research and education in regional anesthesia and pain medicine.

Dr. Borgeat will present “New Perspectives on Regional Anesthesia” on April 19th at the 2018 World Congress on Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine in New York City.

The American Society of Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine (ASRA) bestows the Gaston Labat Award annually to an individual who has demonstrated outstanding contributions to the development, teaching, and practice of regional anesthesia in the tradition of Gaston P. Labat, MD (1843-1908).

Dr. Borgeat has been the head of the Anesthesiology Department in the Orthopedic University Hospital Balgrist in Zurich Switzerland for 23 years, and he is a full professor at the Medical School of the University of Zurich. His nominator, Gina Votta-Velis, MD, PhD, from the University of Illinois at Chicago, describes him as “a true academician in every sense of the word” with more than 138 peer-reviewed publications, 40 book chapters, more than 950 invited lectures, and service on several prestigious editorial boards including ASRA’s Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine.

Throughout his career, Dr. Borgeat has developed techniques with interscalene, infraclavicular, and popliteal blocks that are superior in performance, efficiency, safety, success rate, and finesse. He conducted several large, randomized, prospective control clinical studies regarding the use of perineural catheters for perioperative pain control, which are considered landmarks in the literature and led to changes in practice for perioperative pain management.

Additionally, Dr. Borgeat recently spearheaded the groundbreaking idea that local anesthetics, along with their anti-inflammatory effects, may have antimetastatic potential. 

“With his enthusiasm and passion for teaching, his knowledge, hard work, clear thinking, novelty of ideas, example, and experience, he inspires anesthesiologists in our field to perform to the best of their ability both clinically and in academics,” Votta-Velis said. “Most of all, though, what truly distinguishes Professor Borgeat, by far, is his dedication to the patients.”

The 2018 World Congress on Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine will be held April 19-21 at the New York Marriott Marquis in Times Square. The meeting brings together five intercontinental regional anesthesia and pain medicine societies every four years. This is the first time the meeting will be held in the United States, with nearly 3,000 expected to attend.

 

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2018 World Congress on Regional Anesthesia and Pain Medicine