Point of Care Ultrasound (PoCUS) - Ultrasound Guided Regional Anaesthesia (USGRA) (blended)

This is a bespoke ultrasound blended learning course, designed for practitioners in emergency care and anaesthesia.

This course has been developed to address an unmet need for teaching, training, and clinical skills refinement in ultrasound-guided regional anaesthesia (USGRA).

Who it’s for

This course is primarily designed for practitioners in emergency care and anaesthesia. However, clinicians (and students) who are keen to expand their repertoire of strategies in multimodal pain management will also benefit from the skills developed.

What you’ll learn

The course is split between pre-course online study and a practical in-person session:

• short pre-course videos delivering theoretical knowledge, practical demonstration, and reference to relevant published material
• supervised practice with feedback on live models, simulators, and gel phantoms
• post-course assessment of theoretical knowledge

eLearning component

Course materials will be available from 20 February 2025.

Important

You must complete the eLearning course before attending the face-to-face component of the PoCUS course. Candidates who do not complete the eLearning in time may not be able to attend the face-to-face day.

The fundamental course will include:

• neck
  • superficial cervical plexus block
• upper limb
  • supraclavicular brachial plexus block
  • suprascapular + axillary nerve block
  • radial, ulnar, and median nerve blocks
• trunk
  • erector spinae plane block
  • serratus anterior block
• lower limb
  • hip blocks (Femoral nerve, Fascia Iliaca, and Pericapsular Nerve Group Blocks)
  • transgluteal Sciatic nerve block
  • popliteal Sciatic Nerve Block
  • ankle blocks

Once you have completed the course you should be able to:

• describe and identify the relevant anatomy of the block location; use ultrasound to locate nerves in the neck, arms, torso, and legs, differentiating nerves from surrounding structures such as tendons and muscles
• summarise the benefits of individual block procedures; discuss the benefits and hazards; understand how to approach nerves with in-plane and out-of-plane techniques; choose the appropriate nerve to anesthetize for particular injury patterns; correctly position patients for each type of block to enhance success
• use your new knowledge and skills to construct a practical plan to address a defined clinical problem - discussing how an individual technique could be, considering alternative strategies, and comparing and contrasting anaesthetic techniques to achieve the clinical objective.
• evaluate the USGRA options, consider the nature of the patient and location, along with risks associated with anatomy and local anaesthetic toxicity, to make an argument for the safest course of action

Topics covered

08:30-09:00 Registration/coffee

09:00-09:10 Welcome; introduction to venue, facilitators and equipment

9.10- 09:30 Small group instruction: USS principles/pitfalls/knobology

09:30- 10.45 Rotating Workshops

• machine Set up/optimisation
• models to demonstrate relevant anatomy
• familiarisation with NRFit connectors
• phantoms to demonstrate needling techniques in and out of plane

10:45-11:10 Tea/coffee

11:10-12:40 Rotating Workshops

• NeedleTrainer equipment familiarization
• models to demonstrate relevant anatomy
• phantoms to demonstrate needling techniques in and out of plane
• small group discussion on local anaesthetic dilution and mixing

12:40-13:30 Lunch

13:30-15:00 Rotating Workshops

• models to demonstrate relevant anatomy
• learners demonstrate needling techniques using phantoms and NeedleTrainer
• small group discussion on local anaesthetic toxicity and treatment

15:00- 15:20 Tea/coffee

15:20 -16:30 Rotating Workshops

• models to demonstrate relevant anatomy
• phantoms to demonstrate needling techniques and insertion of continuous nerve block catheters
• small group discussion Q&A

16:30 Summary and close

Benefits

• blended delivery approach: eLearning component allows you to learn flexibly, in your own time, while the face-to-face session offers practical multidisciplinary peer learning
• teaching is aligned with contemporary UK clinical practice
• you will practice on live volunteers and ultrasound phantoms
• we will use using cart-based ultrasound machines, handheld ultrasound equipment, and ultrasound simulators
• delivered by clinical experts
• competitive price

Location