Neuroanesthesia

Neuroanesthesia rotations at Loyola Medicine provide a large and varied clinical experience, blending both high quality didactic and operating room training with state-of-the-art surgeries involving the spine and intracranial procedures. Loyola Medicine is home to the Center for Cranial Base Surgery and is a Midwest referral center for tumors involving the skull base. Residents perform a large number of anesthesia for neuromas of the acoustic nerve, glomus vagale and jugulare tumors and clival meningiomas. They gain experience with sitting position approach to the skull base and are exposed to all aspects of air embolism prophylaxis and prevention. Additionally, residents gain a good deal of experience conducting complex anesthesia for aneurysm coiling, ablation, and stent placements.

Clinical faculty also perform a significant number of complex spine procedures where residents learn techniques involving hypotensive anesthesia and the effect of anesthetic agents on neurophysiologic monitors. Loyola Medicine is a Level I trauma center for suburbs west and south of Chicago, providing excellent experience in both complex elective and emergent neurologic procedures.

The didactic portion of the neuroanesthetic experience involves both case discussions and formal overviews of neurovascular anesthesia, methods for control of intracranial pressure, neurophysiologic monitoring, neuroprotection and spinal cord injury.

The variety of case mix, didactic and operating room rotation make the neuroanesthesia experience at Loyola rewarding and valuable for training resident physicians.