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

Patient Safety

The ESAIC aims to promote the professional role of anaesthesiologists and intensive care physicians and enhance perioperative patient outcomes by focusing on quality of care and patient safety strategies. The Society is committed to implementing the Helsinki Declaration and leading patient safety projects.


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

Holocaust survivors may have a lower risk of post-operative delirium

Abstract number: 15AP01-04

  • One in four over-75s having surgery at Tel Aviv hospital was a Holocaust survivor
  • Holocaust survivors had 40% lower odds of postoperative delirium than other patients of the same age

Holocaust survivors may be at reduced risk of developing postoperative

bigstock woman working as nurse helping 453176017 300x169 1

delirium, Israeli research that was presented at this year’s Euroanaesthesia suggests.

The researchers say that the finding, which is preliminary, may be due to Holocaust survivors having greater mental resilience than their peers.

Postoperative delirium – acute and fluctuating changes in attention and awareness, confusion and problems with thinking and memory – is the most common complication after surgery in older people.  It is often temporary but can affect recovery, leading to a longer hospital stay and to patients being discharged to a rehabilitation centre, rather than returning home.

“Holocaust survivors are known to be at a higher risk of a variety of psychological conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, and some studies have found a correlation with early-onset dementia,” says Dr Yotam Weiss, of the Department of Anaesthesiology & Intensive Care, Tel Aviv Medical Center, Tel Aviv, Israel, one of the study’s authors and a grandson of Holocaust survivors.

“Research has also shown are in poorer health and have more medical conditions than others of the same age.”

“However, there is a lack of information on their perioperative cognitive trajectory – whether they are at higher risk of postoperative delirium – as well as whether they are more likely to suffer other adverse outcomes, such as falls while in a hospital or dying in the months after their operation.”

“We have a duty to the survivors. We know that their number is declining every year and it is our duty as a medical staff to assist them during hospitalisation.  Information like this can help us adjust their care accordingly.”

To find out more, Dr Weiss and colleagues carried out a retrospective single-centre cohort study in which they analysed data on patients who had elective (planned) surgery at Tel-Aviv Medical Center between January 2020 and July 2021.

The procedures covered ranged from cataracts, biopsies and hernia surgeries to hip replacements, cancer surgery, and thoracic and vascular procedures. Cardiac and emergency procedures and planned ICU admissions and patients with diagnoses of dementia were excluded.

1,211 of the 2,222 elective surgical patients were born before 1945 and so may have experienced the Holocaust.

315 (26%) of the 1,211 were Holocaust survivors (HS) and 896 were non-Holocaust survivors (NHS). All were aged 75 years or above.

The HS were older than the NHS (average age of 82 years vs. 80 years) but there were no other differences between the two groups, including in gender or the proportion having major surgery.

Cognitive status was evaluated at the pre-anaesthesia clinic and delirium was assessed daily, from within one hour after they left the operating theatre to the second postoperative day.

No significant differences were found in rates of cognitive impairment (23% HS vs. 21% NHS) or in post-operative delirium (14% HS vs. 16% NHS).

However, when the results were adjusted to take into account known risk factors for postoperative delirium (such as age, cognitive impairment, and type of surgery) the Holocaust survivors were 40% less likely to develop postoperative delirium than age-matched non-survivors.

The prevalence of cognitive impairment (1 in 5) and postoperative delirium (1 in 6) were consistent with other studies on this age group.

The researchers also compared rates of other adverse outcomes – falls in hospital, unplanned ICU admission, being discharged to a facility other than their home, having a stroke or heart attack within three months of their operation, and death within a year of their operation.

The Holocaust survivors were twice as likely as the non-Holocaust survivors to fall while in hospital (4% vs 2%) but there was no overall difference in the rate of adverse outcomes between the two groups. Dr Weiss says: “The increased rate of falls may indicate increased frailty in this population.”

The researchers conclude: “Among surgical patients born before 1945 living today in Israel, 1 in 4 are Holocaust survivors, 1 in 5 have undiagnosed cognitive impairment and 1 in 6 are at risk for postoperative delirium.”

“In an ageing world with a rising life expectancy, these numbers have enormous significance.”

Dr Weiss says: “Given that Holocaust survivors are at increased risk of a range of physical and psychological conditions, we were surprised to find that they seem to have a lower risk of postoperative delirium.

“As a grandson to survivors, the first thing that came to mind was ‘resilience’ – the ability to adapt positively to adversity or to recover readily from adversity.”

“While early studies of Holocaust survivors described ‘survivor syndrome’ and ‘concentration camp syndrome,’ which were emphasising the negative mental aspects of their experiences, later psychological studies characterise the survivors as exhibiting survivorship and resilience.”

“We can only assume that these traits exist in those that have survived the Holocaust and reached old age.”

“This is, however, only a hypothesis, and testing for resilience pre-operatively in a follow-up study might shed further light on our finding and also expand our knowledge of delirium.”

For full abstract click here

For full poster click here

Read More of our special newsletter covering our congress.