Episodes

Score one for innovation and patient safety, we've got Jens Borglum and Nat Haslam on our team! 🏅💉 In this episode we chat with both of these engaging gentlemen who have pioneered block rooms, fascial plane blocks and more! Pour yourself a little Cuervo with lime, sit back and enjoy... Join us each month for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care, POCUS, pain medicine, ultrasound guided nerve blocks, acute pain, and perioperative care!

In this episode from the Block Box in Oslo, we have a lovely chat with the irrepressible Dave Johnston from Belfast who shares his experience building block rooms, why he does QL blocks for pelvic fractures, and his thoughts on the adductor canal vs. femoral triangle con-traaaah-versy. Then we share some laughs and stories with the charming Kavita Houthoff Khemlani who talks about her journey into medicine (by way of training ocean predators) and how social media can bring people together. Join ...

Buckle up for a wild ride...Amit and Jeff jet off to Sydney, Australia to chat with Stavros Prineas of Nepean Hospital: Anesthesiologist, human factors expert, raconteur, lover of dad jokes, and all around good guy! (ok, we didn't fly there, but one day...). How to set up your block area, Feng shui, darts, ABBA, Inigo Montoya, identity hats, Seinfeld junior mint references, Émile Chartier quotes...we cover a LOT of ground in this fun and engaging episode. Join us each month for another sassy con...

In this episode we have a super fun chat with two lovely people: Louise Moran and Rafa Blanco. Both share great stories, and both make us laugh. Also, if you want some FREE video education and a chance to ask us how to scan a certain technique tune into THESE special events coming soon (late April and early May)! https://landing1.gehealthcare.com/anesthesia-series-registration-page-2026.html

In this episode from the Oslo Block Box sessions, we chat with Vicente Roques from Spain who is a wizard with using AI to generate images, videos, and audio narration--Vicente shares his favorite tools and experiences, and gives us some insight as to why his presentations are SOOOO good. We then talk with Rosie Hogg from Belfast, who channels her inner K-Pop Demon Hunter when talking about how and why to implement POCUS in your practice, how to compassionately bring colleagues along on your jour...

What would it look like to push the boundaries of ambulatory surgery under regional anesthesia? What new innovations are there left in blocks for shoulder surgery? How should blocks be taught, and what makes a good block name? Spoiler: Make it sexy. In this engaging episode, Amit and Jeff interview Bo Gottshau from Copenhagen and Philip Peng from Toronto, seeking answers to all these questions, and more! Join us each month for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, ...

New Season Unlocked! Happy New Year and welcome to our 4th season...in this episode, we're back in the Block Box chatting with none other than Alan Macfarlane from Glasgow, who gives us some amazing Scottish jokes AND a sneak peek into the NAP8 Project that he's leading for the Royal College of Anaesthetists on complications related to regional anesthesia. It promises to be a massive effort and we can't wait to see the results! We also have the pleasure of chatting with Nuala Lucas about her pas...

Ho ho hold the phone! It's time for our Holiday Special Episode and in this, our third season, we go to the BILIH voicemail inbox and see what's been on YOUR mind! In this episode we'll do our best to answer listener questions about continuous spinals, regional research, rebound pain, needle trajectory, AI, education, chronic pain, patient management, equipment, and more! So grab an eggnog and a plate of gingerbread, you won't want to miss this one... Join us each month for another sassy convers...

Close your eyes and repeat after me: "Less Pharma, More Karma"... In this fascinating interview, Dr. Jeni Noerenberg -- anesthesiologist AND integrative medicine physician -- takes a couple of noobs like Amit and Jeff and explains how techniques like noetic medicine, acupuncture, guided imagery, aromatherapy, nutrition, clinical hypnosis (and more!) are being used in the perioperative space to reduce anxiety, decrease anesthetic and opioid requirement, reduce nausea and pain, and improve other i...

More Oslo interviews? You got it. This time we're chatting with amazing Amy Pearson about her leadership in promoting anesthesia safety through the Anesthesia Patient Safety Foundation, and how botox creates opportunities for enhanced patient connection! We also somehow get suckered into a pro-con on airway blocks vs. topicalization with the ever impressive (and impeccably styled) Kariem El-Boghdadly, and well, we'll let you decide what the outcome is... Join us each month for another sassy conv...

We're back to Oslo for the ESRA Block Box experience where we interviewed two fascinating and impressive people: Guy Weinberg from Chicago regales us with how a failed experiment led to an incredible antidote, and leaves us with a word of warning about a commonly-used local anesthetic; and Barbara Breebart from Antwerp, explains how we have just SIX seconds to win the confidence of our patients with our body language, and other amazing tips for putting patients at ease. Join us each month for an...

The ah-maaazing interviews continue in the Block Box in Orlando -- this time Amit and Jeff are chatting with two Canadians! Anahi Perlas from Toronto tells us about how she first started to think about gastric ultrasound and the challenges involved in creating a new diagnostic test. And then Jon Bailey from Halifax shares his experiences in researching the feasibility of nerve blocks in outer space! Join us each month for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, criti...

Got pain that last for a looooong time? YOU, my friend, need a continuous catheter! Join Amit and Jeff as they discuss all things catheter-related: What is the best way to place them? How do keep them from falling out? What are the differences in catheter and pump designs? Is a programmed intermittent bolus enough? Or do we need a background rate too? What is a 'green gizmo'? Why does Jeff keep attempting accents? So many questions--and SO MANY answers! Stay tuned for all this and much more as w...

In this toe-tally fascinating episode, Amit and Jeff talk ankle blocks, digital blocks, Mayo blocks, popliteal sciatic blocks, and much more. Who knew there were so many ways to block the five little piggies??! Join us every episode for another sassy conversation about anesthesiology, emergency medicine, critical care, POCUS, pain medicine, ultrasound guided nerve blocks, acute pain, and perioperative care! Links from the episode: 🔗 Robards et al article about needing an intra-sheath needle tip ...

Greetings from Norway!! 🇳🇴 Amit and Jeff once again return to the GE Healthcare Block Box, this time at the ESRA25 meeting in Oslo! In this episode, we chat with Athmaja Thottungal about her motivation behind a career change, the value of healthcare coaches for preventative health, and some practical tips to chill out and engage in a "digital detox". Following that, we talk with John McDonnell and hear his thoughts on blocks new aaaaand not-so-new (and he teases us with some yet-to-be-published ...

Two amazing interviewees in one deee-licious episode! The uber-impressive Ki Jinn Chin from the University of Toronto shares his ASRA "origin story", his thoughts on how regional anesthesia really does incorporate elements of artistry, creativity and improvisation, how long a YouTube video SHOULD be, and what he's doing with spinals these days. Following that, the always inspiring and engaging Amanda Kumar joins us from Duke University where she shares her experience with high-fidelity simulatio...

In this fascinating episode, Amit and Jeff interview Dr. Jordana Garbati, an “emoji-ologist” 😎 who has researched and lectured internationally about the use of emoji as language. For something we use every day, we sure had a lot of questions: are we using these correctly? Are there ways to be misinterpreted? Is it ok to emoji your boss? What emoji are useful in communicating with colleagues or patients? If you’ve ever wondered how emoji get chosen to be on your phone, or if you wanna understand ...

Our two hosts sit down for a stimulating (yes, intended) conversation with Kwesi Kwofie from Dalhousie University in Halifax, Canada, who gets down and dirty about needle nerve contact and nerve injury. Where exactly should we put the needle when performing a supraclavicular brachial plexus block? Or...is the supraclav dead?!! Why is periplexus preferred over intraplexus when doing interscalene brachial plexus blocks? Oh, and Kwesi might just win the joke contest. But wait, not to outdone, we fo...

Amit and Jeff continue their fascinating dive into the mind and life of Admir Hadzic, author, innovator, founder of NYSORA, brewer of fine beer, bassist and sports car nut. In this episode we discuss standardization in regional anesthesia, the future of textbooks in medicine, how sedated DO patients really want to be for nerve blocks, what it's like to drive a Ferrari to your next gig, and (because we don't shy away from cont-rah-versy, Admir's passionate thoughts and feelings on why there IS a ...

Amit and Jeff are still (!) sweating it out in the block box, and have the good fortune to be joined by three wonderful guests: Stuart Grant from the University of North Carolina, Steve Coppens from the Catholic University of Leuven, and Gary Schwartz from Maimonides Medical Center in NYC. We cover such topics as peripheral nerve stimulation for looooong term pain control, the value of the ESP (and where it might just be hype--I'm talking to you, bunionectomy), the struggle of teaching residents...

He's the founder of NYSORA, a rock-blues bassist, and a lover of fine beer and finer automobiles. We had a ton of fun chatting with Admir Hadzic about the his origin story, how he has been able to reinvent himself and his focus, and how to NOT live your life in "thirds". Over three decades, Admir has built a global educational brand while running a highly efficient regional anesthesia service in New York and now Belgium, and he shares his secrets on how he's been able to build a team, create val...

Our star-studded guest list continues live from the GE Healthcare Block Box at ASRA Spring 25! In this episode we interview Ed Mariano, Eleni Moka, and Michael Bullock, and get their answers to such questions as: What platforms work best for social media? How do we bring RA education to under-resourced parts of the globe? What is the mechanism of tourniquet hypertension and what's a clever trick to obviate that? Why is Jeff so $&*# at accents? And more! No cuts, no edits, no bleeps -- just hard-...

Wine, flamingos, and a glass box…this is NOT your typical BILIH episode...Amit and Jeff join you from the ASRA Spring Annual Meeting 2025 in Orlando, Florida, where they recorded live interviews with over a dozen influential thinkers in regional anesthesiology. Join us as we chat and laugh with James Kim, Sandy Kopp and Nadia Hernandez over discussions of POCUS, probe covers, catheters, the NEW anticoagulation guidelines, and much much more! Join us each month for another sassy conversation abou...

Clear!!! In the exciting conclusion to our two-parter on blocks in emergency medicine, things get real as the co-hosts debate Arun and Andrew over the ideal block for hip fracture, a slick way to reduce a shoulder dislocation, cheeky femoral blocks, and the role of fascial plane blocks in the ED. Links: The sponsor of this episode is GE Healthcare Venue Family of Ultrasound Machines: https://tinyurl.com/gehealthcarevenue Article on spontaneous reduction hip dislocation after PENG block: https://...