JUNE 27, 2019
ITALY

Doctors at Two Major Medical Conferences in Italy Show Interest in Transfusion-Alternative Strategies

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Medical professionals visit our booth at the SIAARTI conference in Palermo

Many doctors have expressed appreciation for the worldwide network that our organization has established to provide information about medical and surgical treatment strategies to avoid blood transfusion. Hospital Information Services (Italy), located at the branch office of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Rome, is part of this worldwide network. Late last year, representatives of Hospital Information Services (Italy) and local Hospital Liaison Committee members staffed an information booth at the National Congress of the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation, and Intensive Care (SIAARTI), which was held from October 10 to 13, 2018, in Palermo, Sicily. Immediately after that conference, the brothers were also exhibitors at the Joint Congress of the Scientific Societies of Surgery hosted at the Rome “La Nuvola” Convention Center.

Such conferences are opportunities to provide up-to-date information related to bloodless medicine to many interested medical professionals at one time. The conference in Palermo was attended by 2,800 anesthesiologists. The conference in Rome, considered the largest surgical conference ever held in Italy, was attended by 3,500 surgeons. Representatives from a variety of respected medical institutions also attended. This included members from all of the Italian associations of surgeons and from the Italy Chapter of the American College of Surgeons. Several national institutions, such as the Ministry of Health, backed the event.

Anesthesiologist Vincenzo Scuderi, from the Policlinico Hospital of Catania in Sicily, visited our booth at the Palermo event. On January 18, 2019, he performed emergency treatment on a Witness patient affected by an aortic dissection. He was able to complete the highly complex procedure without using blood. Dr. Scuderi explains: “[Your booth] at the SIAARTI 2018 Congress was instrumental. The presentation kit really was of great assistance.”

Currently, over 5,000 doctors in Italy have agreed to treat patients who are Jehovah’s Witnesses with safe and effective medical and surgical techniques that do not require the use of blood transfusions. Every year in Italy, an average of 16,000 Witness patients are treated in this way.

After the conferences, anesthesiologists and surgeons shared their experiences of working with Jehovah’s Witnesses.

“For years Jehovah’s Witness patients have been a part of my professional experience. Over the last few years, the Working Group for the document on the refusal of blood transfusion of the SIAARTI Study Group on Bioethics has worked to provide guidelines to anesthesiologists, enabling them to take a unified position in the face of complex surgical and anesthesiological conditions with regard to the patient’s pathology and comorbidity. The document makes it explicit that ‘the right of self-determination in relation to health care is a fundamental right of the person guaranteed by the Constitution (Articles 2, 13, and 32), the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Oviedo Convention, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union.’”—Antonio Corcione, coordinator of the regional transplant center for the Campania region, director of anesthesia and intensive care units at the Monaldi Hospital, former president of the Italian Society of Anesthesia, Analgesia, Resuscitation, and Intensive Care (SIAARTI)

“My experience with Jehovah’s Witnesses motivated me and all my colleagues to refine blood-saving and postoperative management techniques in order to limit the need for transfusion support. This path has certainly benefited some people who expressed their refusal of transfusions, but also allowed us to avoid transfusions in many other patients who were willing to accept them.”—Ugo Boggi, full professor of general surgery at the University of Pisa (Italy), adjunct associate professor of surgery at the University of Pittsburgh (USA), president-elect of the Italian Society for Organ Transplantation (SITO)

“Liver transplant is the most complex of all. It is two, three, or four times more complex compared to other transplants, and there is a high risk of bleeding. Despite this, because we have scientific evidence from thousands of cases worldwide, with tens of thousands of liver transplant cases, we can say that we know the ‘tricks of the trade.’ They are, in fact, proven techniques that help to avoid bleeding. We know how to avoid blood transfusions. The vast majority of our liver surgeries, even transplants, are performed entirely without the use of blood. In liver surgery, blood transfusions are now an exception because we have switched from a less precise surgery, which was used a few years ago, to a type of microsurgery that monitors each vessel. I have to thank Jehovah’s Witnesses because they opened the way to something which we hadn’t paid much attention to 10 or 15 years ago—the blood-saving topic.”—Umberto Cillo, full professor of general surgery and director of the hepatobiliary and liver transplant unit at the University of Padua, president of the Italian Society for Organ Transplantation (SITO)

“I appreciate Witness patients very much because the unshakable faith in their beliefs is admirable. And this is one of the reasons why, over the years, I have always tried to make adjustments in order to please them. I consider them people worthy of the highest regard. Jehovah’s Witnesses are not people who want to die or be martyrs at all; they are people who look for quality medical care.”—Francesco Corcione, full professor of surgery at the University of Naples Federico II, president emeritus of the Italian Society of Surgery (SIC), honorary member of the Académie Nationale de Chirurgie, Paris, France

“The relationship with Jehovah’s Witnesses further convinced me of the need for extreme respect that my profession owes to the cultural and religious convictions of patients. I feel a lot of backing from the recent legislative recognition in Italy with Law 219 of December 2017, ‘Provisions for informed consent and advance directives,’ where it states that ‘no health-care treatment can be initiated or continued without the person’s free and informed consent.’ If the surgeon communicates with the patient in a competent, free, and responsible way, there will surely be advantages for both in terms of sharing responsibilities, increasing the degree of freedom, and ultimately a more adequate and effective treatment path.”—Luca Ansaloni, director of general and emergency surgery unit at the Bufalini Hospital of Cesena, president of the Italian Society of Surgical Physiopathology (SIFIPAC)

“Jehovah’s Witnesses have greatly contributed to the refinement of treatment strategies that avoid blood transfusions. New surgical technologies are instrumental in respecting the will of patients who for religious reasons refuse blood transfusions. There are definite advantages to the cost-benefit ratio of bloodless medicine.”—Diego Piazza, president of the Italian Medical Association of Catania, director of oncological surgery at the Garibaldi-Nesima Hospital of Catania, former president of the Italian Association of Hospital Surgeons (ACOI)

“The apparent ‘harmless’ nature of blood transfusions, their perceived easy availability, their relatively low cost, the ease with which they can be prescribed, and the possibility to immediately observe their effectiveness (in terms of increased hemoglobin levels)—all these aspects have contributed to their widespread use. However, the evidence related to the possible harmful effects connected to the transfusions of both concentrated red blood cells and the other blood components has increased each year. In fact, several studies have shown that transfused patients incur complications more frequently than nontransfused patients and worse outcomes with increased risk of mortality, morbidity (stroke, renal injury, thromboembolic events, infections, respiratory failure), and prolonged hospitalization. I think that the treatment of Jehovah’s Witness patients over the past 50 years has led clinicians to greater awareness of blood conservation and of the progress in bloodless surgery.”—Giandomenico Biancofiore, director of the complex operative unit of anesthesia and resuscitation in transplants at the Pisa University Hospital, associate professor of anesthesiology and resuscitation at the University of Pisa

Jehovah’s Witnesses

Doctors at Two Major Medical Conferences in Italy Show Interest in Transfusion-Alternative Strategies

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