Editorial Note on Anesthesia and Its Role in Daily Life

 The core element of the specialty is the study and use of anaesthesia to safely support a patient’s vital functions through the perioperative period. Since the 19th century, anaesthesia has developed from an experimental area with non-specialist practitioners using novel, untested drugs and techniques into what is now a highly refined, safe and effective field of medicine. In some countries anesthesiologists comprise the largest single cohort of doctors in hospitals, and their role extend far beyond the traditional role of anesthesia care in the operating room, including fields such as providing pre-hospital emergency medicine, running intensive care units,transportingcriticallyillpatientsbetweenfacilities,andrehabilitation programs to optimize patients for surgery. Anesthesia or anaesthesia is a state of controlled, temporary loss of sensation or awareness that is induced for medical purposes. It may include some or all of analgesia (relief from or prevention of pain), paralysis (muscle relaxation), amnesia (loss of memory), and unconsciousness. A patient under the effects of anesthetic drugs is referred to as being anesthetized.