NAP8: Complications of Regional Anaesthesia
NAP8: Major complications of regional anaesthesia and perioperative nerve injury
NAP8 will investigate major complications of regional anaesthesia as well as perioperative spinal cord and peripheral nerve injury. We aim to assess the incidence, current practice and outcomes of these various complications.
We are pleased to announce that the topic of the RCoA’s 8th National Audit Project (NAP8) will be complications of regional anaesthesia (peripheral blocks and central neuraxial blockade) and other neurological complications of anaesthesia.
Around 1 in 4 anaesthetics involve peripheral regional or central neuraxial block in some form. The NAP8 case registry will focus on the major complications of peripheral regional and central neuraxial anaesthesia and analgesia. The team will also conduct an activity survey to collect information around neurological complications associated with general anaesthesia.
While major complications of central neuraxial blocks was the subject of the College’s 3rd National Audit Project in 2009 (NAP3), there have since been changes in both practice and patient characteristics.
Call for Local Coordinators
The NAP8 team are still seeking Local Coordinators in each hospital in the UK and Ireland.
If you would like to be the Local Coordinator in your NHS, HSE or Independent Sector hospital then please email nap@rcoa.ac.uk.
Click Here to see your trust/health board Local Coordinator
Resources for Local Coordinators will be added here in due course.
How will NAP8 work?
NAP8 will follow similar methods to previous NAPs, with three main components--the Baseline Surveys, Activity Survey, and Case Registry.
We expect the Baseline Surveys to be open from December 2025 to February 2026. The Activity Survey will run for one week in June 2026. The Case Registry will be open from March 2026 to February 2027.
The NAP8 team is inviting calls for one moderator for the NAP8 project, studying complications of regional anaesthesia in the UK and Ireland.
The moderator role is simply to act as an independent arbiter of whether cases should be reported to NAP8 (they meet inclusion criteria) or not (they do not meet these).
The role therefore simply requires a person who has expert knowledge in the field to be contactable for anyone from around the UK and Ireland to call on and enquire. Initial contact would be by email. The main data collection period runs for 1 year from early 2026 (exact date TBC).
The moderator, intentionally and necessarily, has no other role in the project. The reason for this is that the moderator will have knowledge of who and where cases come from and clinical details that can be linked with the person/place; our processes are set up so no one on the review panel has such knowledge. We do not believe the position is arduous, but it is important. The post is unpaid.
Please find a person specification here. To apply, please send a letter to nap@rcoa.ac.uk detailing your relevant experience.
The closing date for applications is 16 January 2026.
Inclusion Criteria coming soon
Coming Soon
Meet the NAP8 team
Prof Alan Macfarlane is a Consultant Anaesthetist at Glasgow Royal Infirmary and Honorary Professor at the University of Glasgow. He is past-President of RA-UK, an editor at BJA Education and Associate Editor at the BJA. He recently led the development of the new GPAS chapter on Regional Anaesthesia.
NAP8 Resources
