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Chairman
Dr. Mishiya Matsumoto
Department of Anesthesiology, Yamaguchi University Graduate School of Medicine
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It will be my deepest honor to serve as chairperson for the 71st Annual Meeting of the Japanese Society of
Anesthesiologists (JSA) to be held in Kobe, Japan over a three-day period from June 6 to 8, 2024 (Thursday to Saturday).
We expect that the COVID-19 pandemic will have subsided by then and we will be able to hold an in-person conference
similar to the pre-pandemic era. However, we will make appropriate preparations to enable us to respond flexibly using
the expertise we have gained in organizing conferences during the COVID-19 period.
Spectacular strides have been made in the field of anesthesiology in the past few decades.
The widespread adoption of volatile inhaled anesthetics for rapid induction and emergence,
introduction of ultra-short-acting opioids and muscle relaxant antagonists,
advances in research on the sedative and analgesic effects of anesthetics,
and the development of pulse oximeters and depth-of-anesthesia monitors have greatly enhanced the safety in anesthesia.
This has made a significant contribution to the society by expanding the scope of patients who can receive anesthesia.
I feel that the improved safety of anesthesia has also brought a great sense of relief and peace of mind to anesthesiologists.
Meanwhile, anesthesiologists continue to face a difficult work environment, since we are asked to handle an increasing
number of operations with longer operative times resulting from the increasing sophistication of surgical procedures.
However, there has also been progress in government-led efforts to promote task shifting and sharing, and the vision of
the “Japanese Society of Anesthesiologists Recommendations to Address the Manpower Shortage in Anesthesiology” published by
the JSA in 2005 is gradually being realized. We hope to see a virtuous cycle in which improvements in working conditions for
anesthesiologists provides us more time to engage in our practice and generate new ideas that further advance the field.
The theme for this meeting is advancing anesthesiology to create a more compassionate world. I believe that advancements
in the field of anesthesiology will lead to a sense of academic accomplishment and satisfaction, and, when applied to
practice, will contribute to the well-being of patients, their families, and ourselves. Hence, I look forward to your
cooperation in making this annual meeting an opportunity to further promote the field of anesthesiology.
