This book addresses those aspects of anaestheticpractice in perioperative medicine which have a significant impact on both theimmediate and the long-term outcome for the surgical patient. PerioperativeMedicine is the natural evolution of anaesthesia from a main focus on thepatient in the operating room to a responsibility for the care of the patientfrom the time that the decision to operate is made, through to discharge fromhospital. The contributors, well-respected authors in their field, discuss therole of the perioperative medicine specialist in areas ranging frompre-operative assessment and physiological optimization via pre-habilitation,to intra-operative anaesthetic management, and post-operative care. Controversial topics discussed include fluid therapy, anaesthesia and canceroutcomes, pharmacological management of cardiac risk, and the evolution ofacute to chronic pain. Developments in regional anaesthesia, quality ofrecovery scoring, and lung ultrasound, are described. It is hoped that the chapters contained in this bookwill help to define the nascent specialty that is Perioperative Medicine, andencourage further debate, research, and expansion of this vital new frontier inanaesthetic care.
