Editorial – Welcome to 2021!

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

The editorial board of ESRA Updates wish to welcome 2021 and say goodbye to 2020… for obvious reasons!
The only positive point of 2020 was the solidarity, commitment, altruism, sacrifice and hard work of doctors, in general, and anesthesiologists ,in particular. The best tribute we can do to those left behind during this battle is to do our part with honesty, dedication in building a better world, using everything we’ve learned so far, with our eyes in the future. Tireless and fearless!

As much as we miss face-to-face meetings, we must recognize that COVID-19 did introduce a new form of education and teaching by launching the wide-spread use of webinars. These webinars give the opportunity to reach a lot of people in short high-standard online lectures and discussions in their own living rooms. ESRA webinars are a reflection of it, they are becoming popular with an increase attendance every time.

Some key points we wish to highlight in this January 2021 ESRA Updates issue:

In 2020, it wasn’t just SARS-CoV-2 that shook the world… dealing with so much grief, massive catastrophe in Beirute, the war in Syria and in Central African Republic are brutal examples of this. But in the midst of darkness there are points of light so bright that they make us believe in a better world and keep a flame of breath within our hearts. ESRA newsletter brings the tribute to Araz Pourkashianan from his colleagues Irfan Raza, Leo Phylactides and Andrzej Krol, the testimonies of Aline Toukhtarian and Gustavo Carona – both Anesthesiologists who thanks to their human and technical abilities used Regional Anesthesia and POCUS to save lives.

But in all crises, there are also opportunities… is this the case for regional anesthesia in outpatient surgery? Curious? Read Robbie Erskine’s article here.

In ESRA we strive to improve the way we present our mission to the community of Anesthesiologists. We have created a new section on our website – the Guidelines page – where you can find the different guidelines or recommendations made by ESRA, ESRA/Prospect, National Societies and also the Covid 19 Guidelines. To visit click here.

During these difficult times, it can be difficult to keep track on interesting papers in recent publications. The editors of ESRA Updates asked Dr. Sari Casaer to identify her top 3 articles. See her choice here.

You can test your knowledge in Regional Anesthesia and Pain Therapy answering questions on spinal anatomy, EDRA & EDPM. Good luck!

And last but not least, in this issue of ESRA Updates, we want to renew a spirit of hope and recover the good vibes and great sense of humor that characterize anesthesiologists. And for that we asked the question: what’s the best way to say goodbye to 2020? We challenged Anesthesiologists & Pain Doctors & Intensivists to send us their perfect farewell to 2020, appealing to their imagination and creativity.
It is with great joy and satisfaction that we announce the great winners of the competition of #ESRASayGoodbye2020!!
You can find the winners here.