MCA Scientific Events 35th International Congress of ESPNIC 2026

The 35th International Congress of the European Society of Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care (ESPNIC) will take place from June 16-19, 2026, at the Mediterranean Conference Centre in Valletta, Malta. The theme of the congress is “Science of Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care,” emphasizing the core values of multidisciplinary and multi-professional intensive care medicine. ESPNIC is the premier pediatric and neonatal critical care medicine society globally, and this event provides a platform to share physiological and technological advances, guidelines, and research to improve care for the sickest children.
Learning Objectives
While engaging with this conference, participants will be able to:

Apply standardized terminology and adjust ventilator settings for neonatal and pediatric mechanical ventilation, including non-invasive support, HFO, and prone positioning.

Enhance communication, debriefing, and self-awareness skills within the high-stress critical care environment.

Utilize advanced neuro-monitoring techniques such as NIRS, aEEG, and neurosonology to guide clinical decisions.

Perform Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS) for cardiac evaluations, lung assessments, and complex vascular access in the NICU and PICU.

Manage septic shock by optimizing antibiotics, fluids, inotropes, and identifying indications for blood purification or ECMO.

Execute Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) cannulation, manage circuit emergencies, and establish weaning protocols.

Navigate difficult airway management using video laryngoscopy, fiberoptic intubation, and front-of-neck access (FONA).

Implement the latest guidelines and emerging evidence in pediatric sepsis, resuscitation, hemodynamics, and nutrition.

Target Audience

Our core values are truly multidisciplinary and multi-professional, focusing on intensive care medicine for the most critically ill patients and their families that we are daily taking care of in the neonatal (NICU) and the paediatric intensive care unit (PICU).
Best for Neonatologists, Pediatric Intensivists, Pediatric Pulmonologists, Pediatric Cardiologists, Pediatric Neurologists, Pediatric Nephrologists, Pediatric Oncologists, and Critical Care Nurses.

Topics

Masterclasses

Paediatric and Neonatal Mechanical Ventilation

Communication and Debriefing Skills

Advanced Neuro-Monitoring

POCUS in Neonatal and Paediatric Intensive Care Unit

Septic Shock

ECMO

Difficult Airway Management

Plenary Sessions

Creating a better PICU

HOT LATEST GUIDELINES – New resuscitation guidelines

HOT LATEST GUIDELINES – SSC Guidelines

Frontiers in paediatric critical care: physiological & technological advances

When medicine meets law – decision making, disputes and future of paediatric critical care

What can we learn from… (pARDS, AI & digital innovation, acute kidney injury)

Ethical conundrums in paediatrics critical care

The next 10 Year

Scientific & Interdisciplinary Sessions

Respiratory Battles in PICU: PEEP, Breathing, and the Ventilation Divide

At the heart of innovation in cardiac critical care

The ICU moving home: transition to long-term home mechanical ventilation in children

Neurocritical care 2026: rethinking inflammation and perfusion targets

New Horizons in Neonatal High-Frequency Oscillatory Ventilation

Nursing care practices update

Beyond survival: redefining outcomes for the extremely preterm infant

Conundrums in liver intensive care

Hands-on CRRT emergencies

Resuscitation beyond algorithms: people, presence, and performance

Resuscitation without borders: neonate to trauma bay

Infection, inflammation and sepsis: what’s new in your field?

Pharmacokinetics in the fast lane

How POCUS changed my practice?

Smart but simple: practical technology in the CICU

Children with cancer coming to your PICU: time for personalized management?

PICU Liberation re-imagined

Creating a mindful recovery

PRIMERS – Back to basics: what intensivists always wanted to know about

Conundrums in the management of shock

Blood management: blood is gold

The ins and outs of BPD: from birth into adulthood

Oncological emergencies: what should the intensivist know?

Beyond dialysis: protecting and restoring the pediatric kidney

Intravenous fluid management: moving away from uncertainty

First, do no harm: rethinking what we infuse in PICU

Neurocritical care reimagined: from big data to bedside

High flow nasal cannula in the critically ill child: current evidence and clinical applications

Extracorporeal support in liver ICU

Protecting the paediatric lung and diaphragm: challenges and tools

The delicate brain: sedation, haemodynamics, and humanising care

Fluids, steroids, and beyond: modern cardiac critical care

New pediatric sepsis guidelines

The future is today – how AI will change pediatric and neonatal intensive care

The next generation of ICU healthcare professionals

Medication effects on growing bodies and minds with failing organs

The art of writing and publishing – Best of journals

From evidence to impact: improving outcomes in PICU

Clinical challenges in paediatric and neonatal critical care nutrition and metabolism

ESPNIC EURO-ELSO Joint session

The NEXT GENERATION of PICU trials

What’s new in your field: 2026 updates on best practices in critical care

ESPNIC-SCCM Session

Decoding the brain: biomarkers, monitoring, and meaning in neurocritical care

Challenges in paediatric and neonatal critical care

Should we offer ECMO in….?