Confederation of Latin American Societies of Anaesthesiology (CLASA) representatives commit to leading Patient Blood Management efforts in Latin America
On 12- 14 October 2022 the 36th Confederacion Latinoamericana de Sociedades de Anestesiología (CLASA) Congress was held in Santa Cruz de la Sierra, Bolivia.
With over 30 workshops, covering 300 presentations by 177 renowned experts from across the region, the CLASA Congress is the largest anaesthesia-related event in Latin America. The congress provides a valuable opportunity to strengthen personal, academic and professional ties between anaesthesiologists.
The importance of universal standards
One of the highlights of the meeting was a session discussing Patient Blood Management (PBM) implementation in the region.
The session was led by the President of the Iberoamerican Society of Patient Blood Management, Dr Augusto Perez Calatayud, alongside International Foundation for Patient Blood Management trustee Dr Axel Hofmann and Sociedad Colombiana de Anestesiología y Reanimación board member Dr Fredy Ariza.
The discussion highlighted the importance of PBM and the necessity of preserving the patient’s own blood. By having universal standards for blood management, there would be a reduction in inappropriate transfusions in Latin America.
Creating a PBM policy
The document called to base the policy on, and implement it through, PBM’s three key pillars:
- Detection and management of anaemia and iron deficiency
- Minimisation of blood loss and optimisation of coagulation
- Improvement and optimisation of physiological tolerance to anaemia
The aim of these pillars is to reduce the serious adverse effects that anaemia, bleeding and coagulation disorders cause for hospitalised patients and national health systems in LATAM.
The declaration also expressed the importance of cooperating with local governments and other scientific and associative societies to guarantee the sustainability of this policy.
A key development for PBM implementation in the region, representatives for the WFSA and CLASA signed the article, alongside 15 CLASA country delegates.
The 37th CLASA congress will be held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil in 2023
