RAPM Focus
RAPM Focus is devoted to exploring the provocative and impactful aspects of the research published in Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine (RAPM) - rapm.bmj.com. Authors are joined by Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Brian Sites, and other members of the RAPM Editorial Board to discuss and debate the findings that matter most for clinicians, patients, and policy makers. Topical coverage includes all aspects of acute, perioperative, transitional, and chronic pain medicine. At RAPM, we believe well-done pain medicine improves health and well-being. Thanks for joining us. @RAPM_Online Podcast and music produced by Dan Langa.
Episodes
In the November 2025 episode of RAPM Focus, ASRA Pain Medicine Past-President and RAPM Editor David Provenzano, MD, converses with Megan Rolfzen, MD, and Karsten Bartels, MD, PhD, MBA, following the July 2025 publication of their original research article, “Post-Surgical Medication, Awareness, Recovery, and Tracking Using a Phone-Based App (SMART-APP): A Randomized Controlled Trial.”
In their clinical trial, Drs. Rolfzen, Bartels, ...
In this unique episode of RAPM Focus, Editor in Chief Dr. Brian Sites’s fellow, Dr. Meredith Peck, discusses regional anesthesia fellowships with Dr. Giselle Maquoit.
Fellowship applications have seen an obvious decline over the past several years due to an extremely lucrative job market. However, regional anesthesia fellowships still offer invaluable experiences for regional anesthesiologists.
Meredith Peck, DO, is a current regio...
Gastric ultrasound can be so important in assessing aspiration risk in any number of patients preoperatively, and POCUS can be an incredibly valuable tool in this circumstance. In this episode of RAPM Focus, RAPM social media editor, Alopi Patel, MD, converses with Jacob Wrobel, MD, and Alexander Doyal, MD, MPH, FASA, following the June 2025 publication of “Developing a method for ultrasound estimation of gastric volume in patients...
In the era of fast-tracked surgery and same-day discharge, anesthesiologists are looking for strategies to optimize recovery without compromising safety or pain control. A long-standing debate centers around whether low-dose bupivacaine or mepivacaine is the better spinal agent to promote early ambulation after total knee arthroplasty. In this episode of RAPM Focus, RAPM Editor-in-Chief, Brian Sites, MD, explores this debate with C...
In this episode of RAPM Focus, Editor-in-Chief Brian Sites, MD, discusses the use of buprenorphine for acute pain management with Thomas Hickey, MD, MS, following the February 2025 publication of “Buprenorphine versus full agonist opioids for acute postoperative pain management: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.”
Dr. Hickey is full-time staff at the West Haven VA where he is medical director of ...
In this episode of RAPM Focus, Editor-in-Chief Brian Sites, MD, speaks with RAPM Editor Ryan D’Souza, MD, and Nasir Hussain, MD, following the October 2024 publication of “Hidden Influence? Unmasking Conflicts of Interest from Randomized Clinical Trials on Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Pain.”
Let’s set the stage first. Spinal cord stimulation, or SCS, is a therapy that involves implanting a device that sends electrical signal...
In this episode of RAPM Focus, Alopi Patel, MD, speaks with K. Elliott Higgins III, MD, and Courtney Burns, MD, about their powerful pain palette essay, “Beyond the block: a canvas for well-being and conversation in anesthesiology and pain medicine.” This essay accompanies Healing Emotional Wounds—a community-engaged art piece by medical and scientific illustrator Morgan Granzow.
Dr. Higgins is the director of health and well-be...
In this episode of RAPM Focus, executive editor Steven Cohen, MD, discusses the September 2024 publication of “Current state of the pain medicine match: perspective and an eye to the future,” with Meredith Barad, MD, Anuj Aggarwal, MD, and Lynn Kohan, MD.
This letter explores the rationale behind reassessing the NRMP’s utility for pain medicine, examining historical and current trends, and considering the implications of withdrawin...
This AI-generated episode of RAPM Focus discusses the May 2024 publication of “Single-bolus Injection of Local Anesthetic, With or Without Continuous Infusion, for Interscalene Brachial Plexus Block in the Setting of Multimodal Analgesia: A Randomized Controlled Unblinded Trial” by Dr. Patrick Rhyner et al.”
For anyone facing shoulder surgery, pain management after the procedure is crucial. In this paper, Rhyner et al. question whe...
Hosted by RAPM Editor Eric Schwenk, MD, this episode of RAPM Focus welcomes RAPM Associate Editor Mark Bicket, MD, PhD, and medical student Sama Ramo following the recent publication of their original research paper, “Risk Factors for Persistent Postoperative Opioid Use: An Entity Distinct from Chronic Postsurgical Pain,” included in the February 2025 special edition of RAPM, titled “Tackling the Challenge of Chronic Postsurgical P...
This episode of RAPM Focus introduces something new—an episode generated completely by artificial intelligence, specifically Google Notebook. As part of RAPM’s commitment to exploring innovative ways to deliver content, RAPM is trialing this approach and would love to hear your feedback.
This AI-generated episode is centered around an original research paper first published in RAPM in November 2024, “Standardizing nomenclature in r...
In this episode of RAPM Focus, Editor-in-Chief Brian Sites, MD, is thrilled to welcome Kesavan Sadacharam, MD, and Allison Fernandez, MD, following the April 2024 publication of their original research paper, “Multisite prospective study of perioperative pain management practices for anterior cruciate ligament reconstruction in adolescents: Society for Pediatric Anesthesia Improvement Network (SPAIN) Project Report.”
Unwarranted va...
In this episode of RAPM Focus, Editor-in-Chief Brian Sites, MD, is thrilled to welcome Laura Graham, PhD, MPH, and Sesh Mudumbai, MD, MS, following the April 2024 publication of their brief technical report, “Use of natural language processing method to identify regional anesthesia from clinical notes.”
One definition of medicine is the science and practice of the diagnosis treatment in prevention of disease. Science itself involve...
In this special episode, RAPM Focus takes a break from its usual format of discussing specific research projects to discuss instead how research in health care is increasingly vital yet often hindered by escalating costs and time constraints. Editor-in-Chief Brian Sites, MD, discusses these challenges with Alexander (Xan) Abess, MD, and Jonathan Weed, MD.
Traditional, large scale, randomized controlled trials are resource intensive...
In this episode of RAPM Focus, Editor-in-Chief Brian Sites, MD, is delighted to be joined by Alexander Stone, MD, and Kamen Vlassakov, MD, following the April 2024 publication of their original research paper, “Anesthesia Start Time Documentation Accuracy where Peripheral Nerve Block is the Primary Anesthetic.”
Understanding the intricacies of billing is crucial for anesthesiologists in all practice settings, not just in private pr...
In this episode of RAPM Focus, Editor-in-Chief Brian Sites, MD, is delighted to be joined by Ryan D’Souza, MD, and Nasir Hussain, MD, following the February 2024 publication of their review, “Methodological and Statistical Characteristics of Meta-Analyses on Spinal Cord Stimulation for Chronic Pain: A Systematic Review.” Both of these anesthesiologists are prolific in their research and contributions to the regional anesthesia and ...
In RAPM Focus’s latest podcast series, Article Reads, Alopi Patel, MD, narrates “Artificial intelligence and regional anesthesiology education curriculum development: navigating the digital noise” by Kristopher M Schroeder and Nabil Elkassabany. Originally published in Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine in June 2024, this daring discourse is now available in podcast format for an all new RAPM experience.
Artificial intelligenc...
In this episode of RAPM Focus, Editor-in-Chief Brian Sites, MD, sits down with Michael Barrington, MD, to discuss best practice advisories and policies with systematic reviews.
Best practice advisories and policies tend to stem from the results of systematic reviews and metanalysis, thus the stakes are very high for a journal to ensure that the results are meaningful and valid. As part of a RAPM initiative to establish education an...
In this episode of RAPM Focus, Associate Editor Ed Mariano, MD, MAS, FASA substitutes for Editor-in-Chief Brian Sites, MD, to discuss the diverse publishing landscapes in the scientific field with Executive Editor Ruth Landau, MD.
Dr. Mariano is a professor at Stanford University School of Medicine.
Dr. Landau is the Virginia Apgar professor and the Chief of Obstetric Anesthesiology at Columbia University. She is also the director ...
In this episode of RAPM Focus, Dr. Brian Sites is delighted to support the work of Dr. Ottokar Stundner, MD, and colleagues by discussing the use of liposomal bupivacaine trends following the March 2024 publication of “Crystallization of mixtures of local anesthetics with and without select adjuvants: a semiquantitative light microscopy analysis.”
Dr. Studener completed his anesthesia residency in Salzburg, Austria, as well as a re...
Popular Podcasts
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
For more than 30 years The River Cafe in London, has been the home-from-home of artists, architects, designers, actors, collectors, writers, activists, and politicians. Michael Caine, Glenn Close, JJ Abrams, Steve McQueen, Victoria and David Beckham, and Lily Allen, are just some of the people who love to call The River Cafe home. On River Cafe Table 4, Rogers sits down with her customers—who have become friends—to talk about food memories. Table 4 explores how food impacts every aspect of our lives. “Foods is politics, food is cultural, food is how you express love, food is about your heritage, it defines who you and who you want to be,” says Rogers. Each week, Rogers invites her guest to reminisce about family suppers and first dates, what they cook, how they eat when performing, the restaurants they choose, and what food they seek when they need comfort. And to punctuate each episode of Table 4, guests such as Ralph Fiennes, Emily Blunt, and Alfonso Cuarón, read their favourite recipe from one of the best-selling River Cafe cookbooks. Table 4 itself, is situated near The River Cafe’s open kitchen, close to the bright pink wood-fired oven and next to the glossy yellow pass, where Ruthie oversees the restaurant. You are invited to take a seat at this intimate table and join the conversation. For more information, recipes, and ingredients, go to https://shoptherivercafe.co.uk/ Web: https://rivercafe.co.uk/ Instagram: www.instagram.com/therivercafelondon/ Facebook: https://en-gb.facebook.com/therivercafelondon/ For more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iheartradio app, apple podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. Learn more about your ad-choices at https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Listen to 'The Bobby Bones Show' by downloading the daily full replay.
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!