The Brazilian Society for Cardiovascular Surgery (SBCCV) and Brazilian Society for Extracorporeal Circulation (SBCEC) Standards and Guidelines for Perfusion Practice

A primary role for clinical medicine societies is to develop standards and guidelines for practice as an instrument to promote safe and effective patient care. The Brazilian Society for Cardiovascular Surgery (SBCCV) represented by its Department for Mechanical Circulatory Assistance (DECAM) and the the Brazilian Society for Extracorporeal Circulation (SBCEC) conducted a careful critical review of current clinical perfusion practices in Brazil. In addition, a literature review focused on patient safety and surgical outcomes in cardiac surgery was performed. This is the first joint initiative of these two societies (SBCCV/SBCEC) to provide a framework for safe and effective clinical perfusion practice for our cardiac surgery patients. The purpose of this pioneering work was to develop guidelines for the perfusion profession and for those involved in cardiopulmonary bypass (CPB) technology in our country. Both the SBCCV and the SBCEC recommend that institutions and clinical teams adopt the standards and guidelines outlined in this text. The standards and guidelines we recommend are based on those published by the published American Society for Extracorporeal Technology (AmSECT) with a phased adoption recommendation set as an achievable goal. Further, we recommend that cardiac surgery programs develop institution-specific protocols to support the clinical use of these guidelines.