Now in its revised, updated Fifth Edition, this best-selling pocket reference provides detailed descriptions of common procedures and practical guidelines for handling difficult situations. Because it gives clear, reliable protocols, this handbook has been used for nearly twenty years as the "on-the-spot" reference for all health care professionals involved in perioperative care. The Fifth Edition has a much greater emphasis on perioperative management of the surgical patient, including preoperative evaluation and testing, intraoperative management, and postoperative care and pain control. New information is included on preanesthetic evaluation and testing; ambulatory surgery; patient safety and crisis management techniques; infectious diseases, including viral hepatitis and HIV; new intravenous and inhalation anesthetic agents; anesthesia for thoracic and aortic surgery; anesthesia for obstetrics and gynecology; postanesthesia care; perioperative respiratory insufficiency; cardiopulmonary resuscitation protocols; and pain management. Every chapter in this edition has been updated and peer reviewed by Massachusetts General Hospital senior faculty members.