A comprehensive 2006 volume on the theories and applications of evidence-based anaesthesia and critical care. Coming from the internationally renowned Cochrane Collaboration - the global force in evidence-based medicine - this promises to be an authoritative guide for anaesthetists. The Cochrane Anaesthesia Review Group is one of the largest in the collaboration and, as coordinators of the group, the editors of this book have gathered a formidable set of contributions from around the world. The first half of the book provides an introduction to evidence-based medicine and applies the principles to anaesthesia and critical care, including critical appraisal, meta-analysis, interpreting results and controlling bias. The second half shows how to practise this in preoperative evaluation, regional and general anaesthesia, postoperative pain therapy, critical care and acute medicine. Medical professionals working in anaesthesia and surrounding specialties worldwide will find this book immensely useful.