AAM 2025 Conference

Scientific Programme

AAM Conference 2025 Programme

The High-Risk Patient – Anaesthesia, Intensive Care, and Pain Perspectives

FRIDAY, 21st February 2025: Workshops

  • Difficult Airway
  • Ultrasound-Guided Regional Anaesthesia
  • Echocardiography in 1 hour
  • Patient Safety and Non-Technical Skills
  • Simulation – The High-Risk Patient
  • Intro to Tracheostomies, Central Venous Access, & Vasoactive Drugs
  • ALS recertification

FRIDAY, 21st February 2025: Conference

  • 13:00 – 14:30 Registration (Foyer) / Tea and Coffee / Industry Exhibition
  • 14:30 – 14:55 Opening Ceremony AAM Conference 2025 Location: Ballroom
  • 15:00 – 16:05 Plenary Session 1 (Chair: Dr. Anne Marie Camilleri Podesta, Ballroom)
    • 30 years of studying intraoperative hemodynamic monitoring: still confused but on a higher level. Prof Steffen Rex
    • The high-risk neuro patient. Prof Federico Bilotta
    • Improving Obstetric Anaesthesia care. Prof Nuala Lucas
    • Seeing the Bigger Picture: Using Data to Drive Situational Awareness and Quality Improvement. Dr. Edgar Brincat
  • 16:05 – 16:35 Coffee Break
  • 16:35 – 17:30 Plenary Session 2 (Chair: Dr. Stephanie Mifsud, Ballroom)
    • Peri-operative fasting in adults – what about it? Dr. Anne Marie Camilleri Podesta
    • Perioperative management of chronic cardiovascular medication – new evidence. Prof Steffen Rex
    • Assisted Ventilation for Acute Respiratory Failure. Prof Giacomo Bellani
  • 17:30 – 17:50 Industry-Sponsored Lecture (Supported by Charles De Giorgio, Ballroom)
    Title: A Predictive Tool for Drug Interactions During Anaesthesia
    Speaker: Emanuele Vandone Dell’Acqua, Draeger Italia
  • 17:50 – 18:50 Super Submissions (Chair: Dr. Petramay Attard Cortis, Ballroom)
    • Judges: Prof Steffen Rex, Prof Idit Matot, Prof Nuala Lucas
  • 18:55 End of Day 1
  • 19:30 – 22:30 Networking Event (NAAR Restobar)

SATURDAY, 22nd February 2025

  • 08:00 – 08:30 Registration (foyer) / Tea and Coffee and Industry Exhibition
  • 08:30 – 09:20 Session A – Looking to the Future (Ballroom)
    • Chair: Dr. Daniel Farrugia
    • AI and Healthcare – Dr. Gerard Gourion
    • How to regulate innovation? – Dr. Nick Pace
    Session B – Governance (Amphitheatre)
    • Chair: Dr. Petramay Attard Cortis
    • The importance of Governance in the care of high-risk patients – Mr. Joseph Debono
    • National Reporting – Prof. Nuala Lucas
    • Patient safety, human factors, and non-technical skills. Prof Andrew Lockey
  • 09:25 – 10:30 Symposiums High-Risk Patients – Session 1
    • Session A – Intensive Care (Ballroom)
      • Chair: Dr. Anne Marie Camilleri Podesta
      • Update on ARDS – Prof. Giacomo Bellani
      • The coagulopathic patient in the ICU – Prof. Alexander Gatt
      • Pain, sedation, and delirium in the ICU – Dr. Andrew Aquilina
      • Traumatic Brain Injury – Dr. Michael Buttigieg
      • Discussion & Conclusion
    • Session B – Upper GI and Liver Surgery (Amphitheatre)
      • Chair: Dr. Stephanie Mifsud
      • Surgical Perspectives – Hon. Dr. JE Abela
      • Anaesthetic Considerations for Robotic Surgery – Dr. Tanya Esposito
      • Liver Resection – is there a place for regional anaesthesia? – Prof. Idit Matot
      • Liver Failure in the ICU – Dr. Neville Azzopardi
      • Discussion & Conclusion
    • Session C – Difficult Airway (Studio 2A&B)
      • Chair: Dr. Nandor Kosik
      • Clinical Cases with Interaction – Dr. Glenn P. Abela
      • ENT Surgeon Perspectives – Mr. Kenneth Muscat
      • Difficult Airway Equipment and Nursing Perspectives – Mr. Justin Deguara
      • Managing the Difficult Airway in the Emergency Department – Dr. Keith Borg Xuereb
      • Discussion & Conclusion
  • 10:30 – 11:00 Coffee Break and Networking
  • 11:00 – 11:50 Top Publications in Past 12 Months
    • Intensive Care Medicine & Resuscitation (Ballroom)
      • Chair: Prof. Federico Bilotta
      • Intensive Care Medicine – Dr. Michael Buttigieg
      • Resuscitation – Prof. Andrew Lockey
    • Paediatrics and General Anaesthesia (Amphitheatre)
      • Chair: Dr. Nandor Kosik
      • Paediatrics – Dr. Andrew Grech
      • General Anaesthesia – Dr. Stephanie Mifsud
    • Obstetrics and Regional Anaesthesia (Studio 2A&B)
      • Chair: Prof. Nuala Lucas
      • Obstetrics – Dr. Petramay Attard Cortis
      • Regional Anaesthesia – Dr. Keith Borg Xuereb
  • 11:55 – 12:45 Plenary Session 3 – The Elderly Frail Patient
    • Chair: Dr. Anne Marie Camilleri Podesta
    • Peri-operative optimization for better outcomes – Prof. Federico Bilotta
    • DOAC peri-operative management in patients with hip fractures – Prof. Alexander Gatt
    • Cognition, Frailty, and Postoperative Delirium – Prof. Idit Matot
  • 12:45 – 14:00 Lunch and e-Poster Session
    • Chair: Dr. Daniel Farrugia, Dr. Petramay Attard Cortis
    • Location: Amphitheatre
  • 14:00 – 15:05 Symposiums High-Risk Patients – Session 2
    • Cardiac patient for non-cardiac surgery (Ballroom)
      • Chair: Dr. Anne Marie Camilleri Podesta
      • Pre-op Optimization & Investigation, including CPEX – Dr. Mark Abela
      • Management of Patients with Right Ventricular Dysfunction – Prof. Steffen Rex
      • Intra-op Considerations and Pain Management – Dr. Tiziana Pirotta
      • Resuscitation during Emergency Cases – Dr. Velitchka Schembri Agius
    • Paediatric Anaesthesia and ICM (Amphitheatre)
      • Chair: Dr. Mario Zerafa
      • Challenges in paediatric anaesthesia – Dr. Andrew Grech
      • Sedation in Paediatric Intensive Care: Navigating the Evolving Landscape of Choices and Challenges – Dr. Edgar Brincat
      • Ventilation of the paediatric ICU patient – Dr. Stephen Sciberras
      • Critically ill children in the Emergency Department – Dr. Nandor Kosik
    • Pain Medicine (Studio 2A&B)
      • Chair: Dr. Carmel Abela
      • Management of acute back pain including acute sciatica – Dr. Greta Mattocks
      • Oxycodone in Malta: A Necessity or a Risk? – Dr. Muriel Bellizzi
      • Cannabinoids – Dr. Cherilyn Fenech
      • Chronic post-operative pain: who is at risk and how do we manage it, including neuromodulation – Dr. Greta Mattocks
  • 15:15 – 15:45 Coffee Break and Networking
  • 15:50 – 16:55 Symposiums High-Risk Patients – Session 3
    • Morbidly Obese Patients (Ballroom)
      • Chair: Prof. Idit Matot
      • Risk Stratification and Surgical Decision Making – Hon. Dr. JE Abela
      • Ventilation challenges in the morbidly obese – Prof. Giacomo Bellani
      • Management of patients with pulmonary hypertension – Prof. Steffen Rex
      • Anaesthetic implications in morbidly obese patients – Dr. Daniel Farrugia
    • Non-Operating Room Anaesthesia (Amphitheatre)
      • Chair: Dr. Kelvin Cortis
      • Radiology Perspectives – Dr. Christine Cannataci
      • Cardiology Perspectives – Dr. Matthew Mercieca Balbi
      • Anaesthetic Challenges, including clinical cases – Dr. Anne Marie Camilleri Podesta
      • Intrahospital transfer of the high-risk patient – top tips – Dr. Denise Mifsud Bonnici
    • Patients for Major Vascular Surgery (Studio 2A&B)
      • Chair: Dr. Mario Zerafa
      • Pre-operative evaluation and optimization – Dr. Tiziana Pirotta
      • Surgical Decision Making – Prof. Kevin Cassar
      • Neuraxial versus General Anaesthesia – Dr. Petramay Attard Cortis
      • Post-operative major vascular patient: quo Vadis? – Dr. Glenn P. Abela
  • 17:00 – 17:30 Closing Ceremony

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