Children’s Tumor Foundation to Host 2014 Cupid’s Undie Run

Recognized as a leader and expert in the field, John Gerancher, MD, has held both clinical and academic positions in the field of anesthesia. For more than a decade, Dr. John Gerancher served as a professor of anesthesiology at Wake Forest University’s School of Medicine and as the medical director in several anesthesiology departments for the Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center. Beyond his professional responsibilities, Dr. John Charles Gerancher, also known to many as J.C., actively supports charitable organizations such as the Make-A-Wish Foundation and the Children’s Tumor Foundation.

The Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF) is preparing to host its 2014 Cupid’s Undie Run fundraiser, which will be held February 15, 2014. The Cupid’s Undie Run is a one-mile race in which participants run in their best underwear attire on Valentine’s Day weekend in an effort to raise money for the CTF. In 2013, the Undie Run was held in several cities, including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia.

As a nonprofit organization, the CTF is dedicated to improving the lives of millions of individuals who are affected by neurofibromatosis, a condition that results in the growth of tumors along different nerves in the body. The organization strives to heighten awareness of the condition among the general public; provide assistance to individuals who have been diagnosed and their families; and to support research in order to find treatments and a cure for this disease.

Study Explores Anesthesia and Nerve Blocks

Dr. John Charles Gerancher is a former professor of anesthesiology at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. A paper co-authored by Dr. John Charles Gerancher examines whether the overall drug dosage or the local anesthetic concentration acts as the main cause of continuous infraclavicular nerve blocks.

In carrying out the study, researchers inserted an infraclavicular catheter into individuals undergoing orthopedic surgery. They randomly separated the participants into two groups: those who received a 0.2 percent infusion of perineural ropivacaine and those who received a 0.4 percent infusion. Overall, both groups were given 16 milligrams of ropivacaine per hour. Further, patients could self-administer an additional eight milligrams every half hour.

The study’s results indicate that insensate limbs appear more often in those patients who received relatively concentrated ropivacaine at smaller volumes. The authors concluded that the interplay of local anesthetic volume and concentration is influenced by complex factors like the location of catheters.

The research appeared as “The Effects of Local Anesthetic Concentration and Dosage on Continuous Infraclavicular Nerve Blocks: A Multicenter, Randomized, Observer-masked, Controlled Study” in the journal Anesthesia and Analgesia.