The practice of anesthesia and pain management has evolved in recent years to leverage increased use of regional anesthesia – nerve blocks with local anesthesia – to enable better pain control and recovery with less reliance on opioids like morphine and fentanyl. These advanced techniques require the use of high quality ultrasound machines and the Royal Inland Hospital is very privileged to have this equipment as a result of the generous support of Judy and Kevin Chaben, loyal donors of the RIH Foundation. When I came to Kamloops in 2022, it was my primary goal to advance our practice of pain management. We have seen how the combination of non-opioid therapies and nerve block infusions can allow patients to recover from surgeries in their homes with less pain and greater comfort/satisfaction. While opioid medications continue to be an important part of pain control, they can be associated with unpleasant side-effects such as nausea, vomiting, constipation, respiratory depression, drowsiness and itching. Many of these can prolong a patient’s hospital stay and they sometimes require ongoing monitoring in high-observation areas.
It has been exciting to be a part of the team bringing better pain control to the patients at Royal Inland Hospital. I have built a monthly training program – The Block Club – to increase the skill and confidence of our anesthesia staff to ensure this option is increasingly available to all surgical patients. This program will also enable us to attract more anesthesia trainees to our hospital and is vital to our recruitment strategy as we seek to grow the number of surgeries we perform each day and address waiting lists. My Quality Improvement Project is now focusing on extending this approach to other hospitals within Interior Health.
Thank you for your continued support as we work to build a high quality comprehensive pain management program and transform Kamloops into a centre of excellence for patient care and medical education.
Scott Bonneville MD, FRCPC
Department Head, Kamloops Anesthesia Associates
Lead Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Management
Thank you Judy and Kevin Chaben for helping to improve regional pain management at Royal Inland Hospital!
