European Society of Anaesthesiology Council Meeting and ESA Focus Meeting 2018 Sofia, Bulgaria

European Society of Anaesthesiology Council Meeting and ESA Focus Meeting 2018, Sofia, Bulgaria

8.-10.11. 2018
The capital city of Bulgaria has welcomed us with beautiful weather in this early autumn season. During the afternoon walk around the city, we have seen its modern parts drenched with many monuments from various epoch of cultural and religious history. Above all surmounts the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral. Ancient ruins of Serdica, located right in the heart of Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science Headquarters, contributes to the atmosphere.
The European Society of Anaesthesiology Council Meeting was held from the early morning, in parallel with the meeting of  National Anaesthesiologists Societies Committee.  The financial balance of  the society was discussed and the places for future European congresses and Focus Meeting were presented  (in the year 2020 it will be merged with WFSA Congress in Prague). The discussion was held about the possibilities of increasing the member basis. It was also accepted , that the members of affiliates national societies do not have to pay the member fees. The second  part of the day was devoted  to the results of survey about the influence of gender to the efficiency on anaesthetic teams.

Prof. Kai Zacharowski from Frankfurt, the new president of ESA, presented new complex strategy for innovation and development of intensive care in European context with significant support of anaesthetists.

9.-10.11. 2018
The perioperative medicine was the main topic of this year’s Focus Meeting with the emphasis on volume therapy, haemostasis, thrombosis and transfusion. New guidelines for major perioperative bleeding and the prophylaxis of thromboembolic disease were introduced,  these have already been published in EJA. An interesting sequence was devoted to the specific conditions, in which we use Patient Blood Management Concept. Another point was made about  POCT  testing of coagulation cascade and the strategy of diminishing the blood  loss and usage of blood transfusions, which included the possible perioperative precautions. The obstetric anaesthetists and ICU physicians were awaiting the results of WOMAN study, which were presented by Lutz Kaufner from Berlin. The results confirmed the importance of tranaxemic acid during the early phase peripartal haemorrhage. Oliver Grottke from Aachen emphasized the role of fibrinogen. On the other hand, the 3 rd revision of   our recommendation from  2018 , about this serious complication, took into account the results of this study and in many aspects they exceed the discussions from Sophia.
In conclusion, Focus Meeting fulfilled the expectations of reviewing the problematic of perioperative bleeding  and I am looking forward for next year Focus Meeting – 15.-16.10. 2019 in Rome, it will be focused on “Mother and the Child” 
Mille viae ducunt hominem per saecula Roman..