PT - JOURNAL ARTICLE AU - Theodoraki, K AU - Moka, E AU - Makris, A AU - Stavropoulou, E AU - ESRA Hellas Working Group TI - B161 Regional anesthesia use in Greece: can education make a difference in knowledge and practice? AID - 10.1136/rapm-2022-ESRA.236 DP - 2022 Jun 01 TA - Regional Anesthesia & Pain Medicine PG - A164--A164 VI - 47 IP - Suppl 1 4099 - http://rapm.bmj.com/content/47/Suppl_1/A164.1.short 4100 - http://rapm.bmj.com/content/47/Suppl_1/A164.1.full SO - Reg Anesth Pain Med2022 Jun 01; 47 AB - Background and Aims The aim of the current survey was two-fold: first to provide an overview about the current practice of regional anesthesia (RA) in Greece and secondly to evaluate the effect a structured hands-on training Course has on participants’ knowledge and attitude towards RA.Methods An electronic questionnaire was uploaded on SurveyMonkey and a link giving access to the questionnaire was forwarded via email to a mailing list of 825 practicing Greek anesthesiologists held in the electronic database of ESRA Hellas. It contained questions relating to the anesthesiologists’ demographic characteristics, their RA practice and information pertaining to the RA training Course.Results Attendants of the Course are more familiar with the performance of peripheral nerve blocks with neurostimulation and/or ultrasound guidance as compared to non-attendants (p<0.001). Attendants are also less likely to practice exclusively general anesthesia, more likely to use peripheral blocks for lower limb surgery and more likely to consider taking the European Diploma of RA in comparison to non-attendants (p<0.001, p=0.018 and p=0,002, respectively). Both cohorts consider the Course of value and agree that the main reason to use regional techniques is to ensure optimal postoperative analgesia while the main hindrance to RA practice is the lack of relevant education in the techniques, especially those under ultrasound guidance.Conclusions Greek anesthesiologists seek educational activities in the field of RA and the Course seems to fulfil the majority of attendants’ expectations. There will be further effort by the organizers to improve the current Course and undertake additional educational initiatives in the field of RA.