DAN Women & Babies Program

Credentials:

• MD, 1977, University of Toronto
• FRCPC, 1982, University of Toronto
• M.Sc., 1996, Clinical Epidemiology, McMaster University

Current Appointments:

• Affiliate scientist, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, DAN Women & Babies Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
• Active staff, department of anesthesia, Women's College Hospital
• Professor, anesthesia, obstetrics and gynecology, University of Toronto
• Member, editorial board, International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia
• Member, Cochrane Anesthesia Research Group (CARG)

Academic and Clinical Interests:

• Obstetrical anesthesia
• Pain management
• Ambulatory anesthesia
• Clinical trials
• Patient safety

Invited Lectures and Visiting Professorships:

2017

• Chair—Abstract discussion, Society of Obstetric Anesthesiaologists and Perinatologists. Seattle, Washington. May 13.

2016

• Panel discussion, Evidence-based obstetric anaesthesia. Annual meeting of the Israel Society of Anesthesiologists. Dan Panorama, Tel Aviv, Israel. Dec 15.
• Special anaesthetic considerations for the morbidly obese parturient. Sharei Tzedec Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel. Dec 11.
• Refresher course, Anesthesia for the morbidly obese parturient. 9th All Russian Congress for Education—Anesthesia and Resuscitation in Obstetrics and Neonatology. Raddison Hotel, Moscow, Russia. Nov 24.
• Panel discussion, Obstetric haemorrhage. Anesthesia for Placenta Accreta. 9th All Russian Congress for Education—Anesthesia and Resuscitation in Obstetrics and Neonatology. Raddison Hotel, Moscow, Russia. Nov 24.
• Refresher course, Is Regional Anesthesia safer than general anesthesia for caesarean section? 9th All Russian Congress for Education—Anesthesia and Resuscitation in Obstetrics and Neonatology. Raddison Hotel, Moscow, Russia. Nov 23.

2015

• Workshop, Research design—Decision trees and difficult airway in obstetrics. Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem, Israel. Feb 22.
• Neuraxial Ultrasound in Obstetrics. Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem, Jerusalem, Israel. Feb 22.
• Workshop, Lumbar ultrasound. Hadassah University Hospital, Ein Karem, Jerusalem, Israel.

Honours and Awards:

• 2003–2004, Jacob and Lena Joels Memorial Foundation, Visiting Professor in the Life Science and Medical Sciences, Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel
• Editorial Borad, Dataset Papers in Medicine
• Editorial Board, International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia

Administrative Assistant: Doris Cheung
Phone: 416-323-6100 x 87757
Email: doris.cheung@sunnybrook.ca

Education:

• MD, 1977, University of Toronto, Canada
• FRCP, 1982, anesthesia, U of T, Canada
• M.Sc., 1996, clinical epidemiology, McMaster University, Canada

Appointments and Affiliations:

• Affiliate scientist, Evaluative Clinical Sciences, DAN Women & Babies Research Program, Sunnybrook Research Institute
• Professor, departments of anesthesia, and obstetrics & gynaecology, U of T
• Member, Cochrane Anesthesia Research Group (CARG)

Research Foci:

• Meta-analysis and systematic review of best practices in obstetrical anesthesia

Research Summary:

Dr. Halpern's recent research studies focus on needle design and postdural puncture headache related to epidural analgesia (with Dr. Pamela Angle); use of ultrasound to determine level of lumbar puncture; use of ultrasound to locate the epidural space in morbidly obese women who are in labour; incidence of general anesthesia for caesarean section after labour epidural; and post-caesarean section analgesia.

Selected Publications:

See current publications list at PubMed.

1. Krom AJ, Cohen Y, Miller P, Ezri T, Halpern SH, Ginosar Y. Choice of anaesthesia for category I caesarean section in women with anticipated difficult tracheal intubation: the use of decision analysis. Anaesthesia. 2017;72:156–71. doi:10.1111anae.13729. Accompanied by an editorial and CME—aagbi.org.
2. Onwochei D, Halpern SH, Balki M. Teamwork assessment tools in obstetric emergencies: a systematic review. Simulation in Healthcare. 2017;12:165–76.
3. Malhotra R, Johnstone C, Halpern S, Hunter J, Banerjee A. Duration of motor block with intrathecal ropivacaine vs intrathecal bupivacaine for caesarean section: a meta-analysis. IJOA. 2016;27:9–16.
4. Sultan P, Halpern SH, Pushpanathan E, Patel S, Carvalho, B. The effect of intrathecal morphine dose on outcomes after elective cesarean delivery: a meta-analysis. Anesth Analg. 2016;123:154–64.
5. Abdullah F, Brull R, Halpern SH. Will the real benefits of single-shot interscalene block please stand up? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Anesth Analg. 2015;120:1114–29. doi: 10.1213/ANE.0000000000000688 (accompanied by and editorial).
6. Ioscovich A, Mirochnitchenko E, Halpern SH, Smueloff A,Grisaru-Granovsky S, Gozal Y, Einav S. Anesthetic considerations for high order cesarean sections: a prospective cohort study. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2014;289:533–40. doi: 10.1007/s00404-013-3008-4.
7. Beilin Y, Halpern SH. Placenta accreta: successful outcome is all in the planning. Int J Obstet Anesth. 2013 Aug. Epub ahead of print.
8. Ioscovich A, Mirochnitchenko E, Halpern SH, Smueloff A,Grisaru-Granovsky S, Gozal Y, Einav S. Anesthetic considerations for high order cesarean sections: a prospective cohort study. Arch Gynecol Obstet. 2013 Aug. Epub ahead of print.
9. Abdullah FW, Laffey JG, Halpern SH, Brull R. Duration of analgesic effectiveness after the posterior and lateral transversus abdominis plane block techniques for transverse lower abdominal incisions: a meta-analysis. Br J Anaesth. 2013 Nov;111(5):721–35.
10. Sultan P, Murphy C, Halpern S, Carvalho B. The effect of low concentrations versus high concentrations of local anesthetics for labour analgesia on obstetric and anesthetic outcomes: a meta-analysis. Can J Anaesth. 2013 Sep;60(9):840–54.

Related Links:

• Obstetrical Anesthesia Research Unit
• U of T profile, department of anesthesia