In Memoriam: Dr. Jorge Antonia ("Tony") Aldrete 1937-2025

Professor Jorge Antonio “Tony” Aldrete, 1937-2025, was a pioneer in anesthesiology and pain medicine, having led a distinguished career spanning more than 5 decades. Originally interested in creating pathways for the first liver transplant surgeries conducted in the world at the University of Colorado while working with the world’s leading transplant surgeon, Dr. Thomas E. Starzl, he was credited with developing the Aldrete Scale to determine fitness for discharge from the post-anesthesia care unit which has been adopted worldwide. In the 1970’s, Tony turned his attention to local-regional anesthesia and pain management. He was one of the first to implement use of ultrasound-guidance to assist in the performance of nerve blocks. He utilized ketamine for the management of painful conditions before it became widely adopted. Along with Professor Ricardo Plancarte Sanchez from Mexico, he studied superior hypogastric plexus block and ganglion impar block for chronic pelvic pain. He was an early proponent for the use of epidural analgesia with continuous catheters for managing chronic radicular pain. Scientific evaluation of the dural sac and epidural space after surgery and trauma led him to develop a comprehensive protocol for diagnosing and treating arachnoiditis, and he created a foundation for the exclusive study of this chronic condition. Dr. Aldrete published more than 300 scientific papers in English and Spanish, more than 105 textbook chapters in medical texts, and was the editor of 16 unique books dedicated to anesthesia and pain management. He died in Florida on January 12, 2025.