Year 2024 in review - General anaesthesia

Searching for the term "general anesthesia", PubMed lists 1530 clinical trials, reviews, systematic reviews, or meta-analyses in the last year. It is impossible to select "all the most important", so this text has focused on only 4 areas that the authors consider as key. The first is opioid-free anesthesia (OFA) and its growing role in today's anesthesiology. OFA involves anesthetic techniques that, although they can reduce the incidence of PONV, postoperative opioid consumption, and speed recovery, require closer monitoring of hemodynamics and analgesic dosing because of the risk of bradycardia and prolonged postoperative stay. The second topic is remimazolam, a new ultra-short-acting benzodiazepine, as an alternative to traditional anaesthetics, particularly for stabilizing haemodynamic parameters. Next, this annual review focuses on advanced methods of monitoring the depth of anaesthesia, such as the use of the electroencephalogram, and its contribution to perioperative care. Finally, our review over the past year looks at the potential use of artificial intelligence (AI) in anaesthesiology. AI is proving to be a promising tool for improving the prediction of complications, optimizing anesthetic doses, and ensuring greater patient safety.