I have had the pleasure of knowing Dr Saneesh P J for the last 15 years – as an outstanding postgraduate student in Anesthesiology, who was not only the best in his batch, but also the most hardworking and systematic. Later, he joined our tertiary medical college teaching department as a faculty member where he trained PG students with the same brilliancy. Having been Saneesh’s teacher and then co-worker, having known his passion for academics and systematic work, and knowing him intimately, it’s my privilege to write the introduction to this book, the fruition of his efforts.

    The contents of this book have been the crystallization of Saneesh’s success in studies: these are his notes made during his PG course, made and arranged systematically with updated references from standard textbooks and other authentic references; collated systemwise and in a logical order. This book is thus important for the postgraduate students in Anesthesiology, the Anesthesia and OT Technician students, interns learning for their PG Entrance tests, medical undergraduates for their Anesthesia paper, and for any other scholar who wants a good reference at hand to brush up on the science and art of Anesthesiology.

       This book has been field-tested by generations of PG students in the Kasturba Medical College to whom Saneesh was kind enough to provide copies of his notes for the past decade – over these years, generations of students have found it exactly the resource they need through their course and importantly, just before their examinations – since the book is a concentrated capsule of all you need to know to do well in the exams, which is also authenticated. These notes have now been updated with references and arranged more systematically into chapters with the theme of ease of use of the subject matter. The immense importance of the book that you are now holding in your hands is that it has already proved to make a significant difference in the performance of Anesthesia PG students, and is a proven tool to provide you the same success. The ‘top-up topics’ are a very new concept and should help the budding anesthesiologists a long way in honing their knowledge. As a postgraduate examiner and a senior teacher, I whole-heartedly recommend this book to all medical students, and assure you it will prove invaluable to you in your quest for success at the examinations.

      I wish the author and all the users of this wonderful work the success that they so richly deserve in life for their efforts. May this book prove as invaluable to you as it has for many generations of my students!