About the Department of Anesthesiology
Academic Title: Professor
Chair, Department of Anesthesiology
James D. Wentzler MD Professor
Board Certifications:
Anesthesiology, Pediatrics
Jefferson's Department of Anesthesiology provides expert anesthesia care for all types of surgical and invasive procedures, as well as for the management of acute pain. The Department includes highly specialized, skilled anesthesiologists and certified registered nurse anesthetists (CRNAs).
The Department is a national leader in acute pain management for patients with conditions of the hand, wrist, arm, elbow and shoulder. The anesthesia team specializes in ultrasound-guided upper extremity regional nerve blocks and performs more than 2,000 surgical and invasive procedures annually. In addition, the team provides patients with prolonged periods of pain relief, while allowing for a more rapid emergence from general anesthesia and fewer side effects. When indicated, catheters can also be inserted along a specific nerve bundle to offer several days of relief.
Anesthesia residents, pain management physicians and students from around the Philadelphia region come to Jefferson to study our upper extremity acute pain management techniques.
Our anesthesiologists also commonly perform lower extremity nerve blocks (femoral nerve blocks and popliteal nerve blocks) to manage acute pain in patients with conditions of the leg, knee, ankle or foot. These are often used in patients undergoing orthopedic and sports medicine procedures, including anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) reconstructions and ruptured tendon and meniscus repairs.