AS1.1-4 | Anaesthesiology as a Specialty — Glossary

The medical specialty concerned with the perioperative care of patients, management of acute and chronic pain, critical care medicine, and resuscitation of the acutely ill.

The three pharmacological goals of general anaesthesia: unconsciousness (hypnosis), analgesia, and muscle relaxation — each requiring separate drug management.

A grading system (I–VI, with E suffix for emergency) that describes the patient's systemic disease burden; ASA I = healthy, ASA VI = brain-dead organ donor. It grades comorbidity, NOT operative risk or technical difficulty.

The bioethical principle recognising the patient's right to make informed decisions about their own care, operationalised in anaesthesia as the obligation to obtain genuine informed consent.

The bioethical principle of actively promoting the patient's best interests — in anaesthesia, selecting the safest effective technique and optimising the patient's physiological status before surgery.

The Diplomate of the National Board in Anaesthesiology, awarded by the National Board of Examinations (NBE) India; equivalent to MD Anaesthesiology for clinical practice and superspeciality admission.

An intermediate care area providing closer monitoring than a general ward but less intensive intervention than an ICU; commonly managed by anaesthesiologists.

The national professional body for anaesthesiologists in India, founded in 1947; organises continuing professional development, research, and international collaborations.

A process (not merely a signature) by which the anaesthesiologist explains the proposed technique, its alternatives, and material risks in comprehensible language, obtaining the patient's freely given agreement; legally separate from surgical consent.

A complication of general anaesthesia in which the patient becomes conscious and may experience events during surgery; the anaesthesiologist has an ethical obligation to disclose this when it occurs.

The principle of fair and equitable treatment; in anaesthesia applied to triage of ICU resources, equal-quality care regardless of patient characteristics, and equitable access to anaesthetic services.

Pain relief during labour, most commonly provided as epidural analgesia by an obstetric anaesthesiologist; reduces maternal pain without adversely affecting foetal outcomes when managed correctly.

A four-grade oropharyngeal view scoring system (I–IV) used in pre-operative airway assessment to predict difficult laryngoscopy; distinct from ASA Physical Status.

The bioethical principle of avoiding harm; in anaesthesia operationalised through rigorous risk assessment, adherence to drug dosing guidelines, continuous monitoring, and preparedness for critical incidents.

A conceptual framing of the anaesthesiologist's role spanning pre-operative assessment, intra-operative management, and post-anaesthesia care — not merely intraoperative drug administration.

The recovery room where patients are monitored and stabilised after anaesthesia before transfer to the ward or ICU; anaesthesiologist-directed.

A technique of general anaesthesia using intravenous agents only (typically propofol and an opioid), without inhalational agents; used when volatile anaesthesia is contraindicated or impractical.

Celebrated on 16 October annually, marking the anniversary of William Morton's first public demonstration of ether anaesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital in 1846.