The idea for this book was born during a workshop on anaesthesia for laparoscopic surgery, which I organized several years ago. What was intended for a regional audience of perhaps 250 anaesthetists at most, turned into an international event with the participants spilling out of the main lecture hall to view the presentations on video screens in adjacent halls. The overwhelming resonance of the workshop and the numerous requests for accompanying material was ample evidence of the need for a comprehensive treatise of the subject that merged experimental study data with clinical reality and the requirements of perioperative patient care.

This book is designed to fill the gap. It was clear that although laparoscopic procedures were the original focus of attention and should be given the most space, the scope of the book would have to be widened to include other minimally invasive surgical procedures, such as thoracic surgery, laser surgery of the upper airways or neurosurgery, that require adjustments and adaptations of routine anaesthetic management, or entail specific risks requiring specific precautions. These specialties are presented in separate chapters.

A format was chosen that starts with what the surgeon is actually doing to the patient, proceeds through an in-depth look at the patient's cardiopulmonary responses to the surgeon's manipulations, and then distils hands-on practical recommendations and guidelines for anaesthetic management from this basic information. These include tips on anaesthetic regimens derived from the application of recent pharmacokinetic and pharmacological research results to the clinical demands of minimally invasive operations.