ESICM 2026 – European Society of Intensive Care Medicine Annual Congress, Lisbon
Key facts
- Venue: CCL, Lisboa Congress Centre
- Organiser: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM)
- Audience: intensivists, intensive care trainees, nurses, allied health professionals and ICU pharmacists
- CME: up to 23.0 European CME credits (EACCME) for the core congress; pre-congress courses are accredited separately
- Recordings: on demand in the congress app for registered delegates for 3 months
- Language: English, without simultaneous translation
The 39th Annual Congress of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine, held under the name LIVES 2026, takes place from 10 to 14 October 2026 at the CCL, Lisboa Congress Centre in Lisbon, Portugal. The five days open with a weekend of pre-congress educational courses (10–11 October), followed by scientific sessions and educational workshops from 12 to 14 October.
According to the organizers, the programme combines debates, clinical-oriented debates that start from a case scenario, interactive lectures, symposia, case discussions and whiteboard-based Agora sessions. A Hot Topics session at the close of the congress presents cutting-edge research, and a separate session reviews recent papers from the Intensive Care Medicine journal. Selected abstracts are presented as oral or e-poster presentations during the main congress and published in the ICMx journal.
Pre-congress courses cover advanced critical care echocardiography (EDEC), acute respiratory failure and mechanical ventilation, haemodynamics, general intensive care ultrasound, ECLS/ECMO (run jointly with EuroELSO), and liver and pancreas intensive care, with paid hands-on workshops during the congress week. The NEXT Lounge offers a parallel programme for young intensivists and trainees, while the ESICM Forum hosts a dedicated programme for nurses, allied health professionals and ICU pharmacists. Five sessions are live-streamed and can be watched free of charge on ESICM WEBTV without registration.
For related clinical guidance, see the medpresso overview of Basic ultrasound head-to-toe skills for intensivists in the general and neuro intensive care unit population: consensus and expert recommendations of the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine.
*Please note that medpresso.org is an independent entity and is not associated with the official organization of this event. Please refer to the official website through the provided link for additional information.