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Taskforce chair: Fuchs-Buder, Thomas CHRU Nancy Chef du pôle Bloc Opératoire Departement d’anesthésie, réanimation & médecine périoperatoire Summary of recommendations (R) R1: We recommend using a muscle relaxant to facilitate tracheal intubation (1A: high-quality evidence, strong recommendation). R2: We recommend using muscle relaxants to reduce pharyngeal and/or laryngeal injury following endotracheal intubation (1C: low quality of evidence, strong recommendation). R3: We reco...

The Industry Task Force (ILTF) celebrates its first birthday in its current constitution. The ILTF fosters the relationship between industry partners and ESAIC. The support of industry partners is essential to help accomplish ESAIC’s “RESSC mission”: Research, Education, Safety, Sustainability, and Congresses. These are the crossroads at which we interact with one another. So let’s walk true of them and look at what we accomplished together and where we are heading in 202...

Gabriel M. Gurman, MD Chief Editor The fact that in the last few years, I am increasingly interested in the history of my speciality is easily understandable: the ageing process implies too often the need to look into the past and try to understand things which, by that time, have not been evident and apparent. One of the questions about the history of anaesthesia is what happened after that memorable day of the 16th of Oct., 1846, when Bill Morton, at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, U...

Kean Seng Cheah, MBBS, FCAI Case description: Stiff person syndrome is a rare autoimmune neurological syndrome that manifests as fluctuating rigidity and spasms of axial or limb muscles¹. This condition was first described in 1956 by Moersch & Woltman from a case series of 14 patients with a similar presentation of muscle rigidity¹. The pathophysiology of this syndrome is autoimmune driven due to the presence of antibodies against Glutamic Acid Decarboxylase (GAD), the rate-limiting enzyme...

Dr. Michelle Auth Krankenhaus Köln-Merheim, Kliniken der Stadt Köln, Germany “What did you do the last three months?” This is a question I got asked several times in the last few weeks. My answer: I learned. I learned all day. Isn’t that a dream come true? Even having finished my training in Germany about a year ago, I always thought there was so much more to learn: beyond my home hospital’s borders and significantly beyond Germany’s borders. Naturally, therefore,...

Benedikt Preckel On Sunday, June 5th 2022, during Euroanaesthesia 2022 in Milan, the Patient Safety and Quality Committee (PSQC) of the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care (ESAIC) held the Patient Safety Experts Meeting, inviting participants from ESAIC, other international societies and industry partners. The Patient Safety Experts Meeting is a unique opportunity for experts worldwide to openly discuss the most current issues in patient safety in perioperative care. It is a r...

Joana Berger-Estilita1,2, Markus Klimek3, on behalf of the Part II Examinations Subcommittee of the European Society of Anaesthesiology As of 1 October 2020, the European Society of Anaesthesiology became the European Society of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Care. The ESAIC has a proven record of intensive care medicine as a part of its activities, education, examination and research, and it is a significant speciality in our community. The addition of intensive care to the name of our Society w...

Gabriel M. Gurman, MD Chief editor There is no doubt that anaesthesia cannot be provided from a distance. However, the continuous presence of the anaesthesiologist near their patient is an obligation which must be respected; otherwise, there would be an invitation for catastrophe. But what about using telemedicine for the pre-anaesthetic examination? Here is a subject which deserves a severe glance and a deep thought. Pre-anaesthesia examination and evaluation is the first rule of a correct app...

Kean Seng Cheah A stay in ICU can be traumatic to the patients. Patients are confronted with possible death and constantly drift in and out of consciousness, with mysterious alarm ringing and seeing different sets of faces each time they are awake. The journey of recovery from critical illness does not end on the day of ICU discharge, but this experience and memory will cling to the patients as they move on. Patients find it difficult to make sense of the sequence of events due to ‘memor...

Aeyal Raz ESAIC Teach the Teacher Masterclass Committee Chairperson In late October, 20 anaesthesiologists from all over Europe gathered in Crete to learn, work, and collaborate. The goal of the meeting was to improve their teaching skills. This was the first part of the ESAIC’s Train the Trainer (Teach the Teacher – or simply TTT) course. It was a busy week, with lectures, workshops, and presentations, but in the end – we all went home with a few more tools in our belts and new ideas and...