Login to myESAIC Membership
Back

About

The ESAIC is dedicated to supporting professionals in anaesthesiology and intensive care by serving as the hub for development and dissemination of valuable educational, scientific, research, and networking resources.


Back

Congresses

The ESAIC hosts the Euroanaesthesia and Focus Meeting congresses that serve as platforms for cutting-edge science and innovation in the field. These events bring together experts, foster networking, and facilitate knowledge exchange in anaesthesiology, intensive care, pain management, and perioperative medicine. Euroanaesthesia is one of the world’s largest and most influential scientific congresses for anaesthesia professionals. Held annually throughout Europe, our congress is a contemporary event geared towards education, knowledge exchange and innovation in anaesthesia, intensive care, pain and perioperative medicine, as well as a platform for immense international visibility for scientific research.


Back

Professional Growth

The ESAIC's mission is to foster and provide exceptional training and educational opportunities. The ESAIC ensures the provision of robust and standardised examination and certification systems to support the professional development of anaesthesiologists and to ensure outstanding future doctors in the field of anaesthesiology and intensive care.


Back

Research

The ESAIC aims to advance patient outcomes and contribute to the progress of anaesthesiology and intensive care evidence-based practice through research. The ESAIC Clinical Trial Network (CTN), the Academic Contract Research Organisation (A-CRO), the Research Groups and Grants all contribute to the knowledge and clinical advances in the peri-operative setting.


Learn more about the ESAIC Clinical Trial Network (CTN) and the associated studies.

pink fluid being poured into many test tubes
Back

EU Projects

The ESAIC is actively involved as a consortium member in numerous EU funded projects. Together with healthcare leaders and practitioners, the ESAIC's involvement as an EU project partner is another way that it is improving patient outcomes and ensuring the best care for every patient.


image of a stethoscope laying on the european flag
Back

Sustainability

To ESAIC is committed to implementing the Glasgow Declaration and drive initiatives towards greater environmental sustainability across anaesthesiology and intensive care in Europe.


Back

Partnerships

The ESAIC works in collaboration with industry, national societies, and specialist societies to promote advancements in anaesthesia and intensive care. The Industry Partnership offers visibility and engagement opportunities for industry participants with ESAIC members, facilitating understanding of specific needs in anaesthesiology and in intensive care. This partnership provides resources for education and avenues for collaborative projects enhancing science, education, and patient safety. The Specialist Societies contribute to high-quality educational opportunities for European anaesthesiologists and intensivists, fostering discussion and sharing, while the National Societies, through NASC, maintain standards, promote events and courses, and facilitate connections. All partnerships collectively drive dialogue, learning, and growth in the anaesthesiology and intensive care sector.


Back

Guidelines

Guidelines play a crucial role in delivering evidence-based recommendations to healthcare professionals. Within the fields of anaesthesia and intensive care, guidelines are instrumental in standardizing clinical practices and enhancing patient outcomes. For many years, the ESAIC has served as a pivotal platform for facilitating continuous advancements, improving care standards and harmonising clinical management practices across Europe.


Back

Publications

With over 40 years of publication history, the EJA (European Journal of Anaesthesiology) has established itself as a highly respected and influential journal in its field. It covers a wide range of topics related to anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine, including perioperative medicine, pain management, critical care, resuscitation, and patient safety.


Back

Membership

Becoming a member of ESAIC implies becoming a part of a vibrant community of nearly 8,000 professionals who exchange best practices and stay updated on the latest developments in anaesthesiology, intensive care and perioperative medicine. ESAIC membership equips you with the tools and resources necessary to enhance your daily professional routine, nurture your career growth, and play an active role in advancing anaesthesiology, intensive care and perioperative medicine.


Membership opportunities
at the ESAIC

woman showing another woman something on her computer in a hospital

Congress Newsletter 2022

Finally, after 40 years – a diagnosis

Abstract number: 08AP01-07

  • 40-plus years of unexplained finger pain when knitting revealed to be rare, under-fingernail, tumour
  • 30 minute-operation leaves 58-year-old women pain-free and able to enjoy knitting again

Doctors from France and Armenia gave details of a 58-year-old woman who suffered unexplained severe finger pain for more than 40 years when knitting, in a case report presented at this year’s Euroanaesthesia.

The woman, whose pain was also triggered by cold weather, was revealed to have a rare benign tumour under her fingernail.  The tumour was successfully removed.

The patient, who was right-handed, attended the pain clinic at the Wigmore Clinic, Yerevan, Armenia in October 2021 with severe shooting/burning pain in her right index finger, which was triggered by knitting.

3 225x300 1The finger pain, which was accompanied by pins and needles in her right lower arm and shoulder, also appeared during cold weather.

The woman, who had no history of a finger injury, had had this pattern of symptoms for more than 40 years.

She had seen several different specialists and been treated unsuccessfully for other conditions including Reynaud’s disease and neuroma.

The woman, who was from Armenia, was examined at the Wigmore Clinic by a multidisciplinary collaborative French-Armenian team, organised by the Hospices Civils de Lyon, the second largest French university hospital.  The Hospices Civils de Lyon is one of three French university hospitals providing medical training in Armenia as part of a medical programme set up by the French government following the 2020 Artsakh war.

The multidisciplinary team included a pain specialist, hand surgeon, physiotherapist, bone and joint infection disease specialist, microbiologist, neurologist and radiologist.

A physical examination revealed that putting pressure on her nail, stroking the edge of her nail, applying ice to her hand and holding her hand downwards all produced the same pattern of pain as knitting.

Raising and holding up her arm provided almost instant pain relief.

Tests showed she had normal levels of pain sensitivity.

A small section of the nail on her right index finger was slightly bulbous, darker than the surrounding nail and faintly purple.

This deformity, in combination with a slight scalloping of the surface of the bone under the nail (revealed by X-ray) and a small, dense mass with no blood vessels inside, along with an adjacent bone defect (both revealed by ultrasound), suggested the patient had a glomus tumour.

Glomus tumours are rare, normally benign, soft tissue tumours.  More common in middle-aged women than in other groups, they account for around 2% of all soft tissue tumours.

The majority (75%) are found under a fingernail or toenail.  They can develop in any part of the body, however, and have been found on the penis and inside the stomach. Normally benign, they can in rare cases, become malignant and spread to multiple sites throughout the body.

Examination of the growth under the woman’s nail, after removal in a 30-minute operation in late October 2021, confirmed it to be a benign glomus tumour, 5mm in size.

The operation took place in the Hand Surgery Department of the National Burn Centre in Yerevan and was performed by an Armenian team.

“Glomus tumours are uncommon and while hand and plastic surgeons are familiar with them, they may present a puzzle for other specialists,” says pain specialist and anaesthesiologist Dr Mikhail Dziadzko, of the Department of Anaesthesiology & Pain Medicine, Hopital de la Croix Rousse, Lyon, who was part of the French-Armenian multi-disciplinary team.

“This patient had a 5mm tumour which had been growing slowly for more than 40 years. Her quality of life was affected not only by painful sensations during particular gestures and cold weather, but also by constant anticipation of the pain and frustration over the inability to solve the problem over the decades.”

“A surgeon was able to remove the tumour in 30-minute procedure using local anaesthesia. No particular care was required after surgery, other than standard painkillers such as paracetamol and non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), which were prescribed for a short period of time.”

“There were no complications of surgery and the patient’s recovery was uneventful. When seen at a follow-up appointment three months after her operation, she said she no longer had any pain in her finger.”

“She was able to return to her hobby – knitting – and almost forget these 40 years of suffering.”

Dr Dziadzko adds: “The origin of a patient’s pain isn’t always clear. However, in a puzzling situation, a multidisciplinary approach involving different specialists, such as anaesthesiologists, radiologists and surgeons, will almost always help find a solution.”

For full abstract click here

For full poster click here

Read More of our special newsletter covering our congress.