[Monitoring in anesthesiologic practice].

Abstract

Monitoring has made great strides in the last half century. It enables us to titrate drugs to the desired effect, warns us of impending danger, and helps with the diagnosis of problems confronting our patients. Beyond that it has enormously increased our understanding of anesthetic pathophysiology. Modern monitors, however, are still focused on single variables; they do not provide the panoramic view offered by our senses. They do not give data on the patient's appearance, movement, or position. The clinician incorporates that type of information with the data provided by the monitors and melds that with a much richer information about the system in which the operates, the colleagues with whom he works and the circumstances that affect his patient. Even though we appreciate the importance of that wealth of information, we lack scientific tools to measure its value.