The first day of an alumni meet as well as Continued Medical Education (CME) in the field of Anaesthesia organised by the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care,PGI on April 13 was conducted at the Bhargava Auditorium,PGI. The event was inaugurated by Prof S S Gill,Vice Chancellor,Baba Farid University of Health Sciences. Prof S K Pandit,the first alumnus of the department from the year 1964 was the guest of honour. Alumni from the national and international level participated in the event and talked about the various advancements in the field of anaesthesia. Major topics that were discussed included management of disasters,anaesthesia for morbid obesity for bariatric surgery and functional MRI. Anaesthetic management of liver transplant was also deliberated upon. On Sunday,topics giving a glimpse into the future of anaesthesia such as Robotic Surgery will be discussed. There will be a session on controversies in management of anaesthesia,especially in the field of paediatric anaesthesia. Critical care by anaesthetists,which is an important aspect of the services rendered by them,will be covered by overseas faculty. On this occasion,ex-heads and professors of the department,as well as other alumni from India and abroad will be honoured. Talking about the expanding work culture of anaesthesia at PGI,Prof Jyotsna Wig,head of the Department of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care said,The Department of Anaesthesia,in addition to providing anaesthesia services,is undertaking care of critically ill patients in four Intensive Care Units. The overall output of these ICUs is over nine hundred cases per annum. The number of surgeries performed at PGI amount to over 45,000 per year for which anaesthesia services are required, said Prof Indu Bala,the organising secretary of the event. In addition to this,about 750 patients benefit from Pain Clinic run by this department.
