Neurosurgical anesthesia

[5][4] In 1965, Hunter and Dr. Allan Brown of Edinborough founded the Neuroanesthesia Traveling Club of Great Britain and Ireland.

The first American organization for neuroanesthesiology met on June 15, 1973, in Philadelphia, PA and was named the Neurosurgical Anesthesia Society (NAS).

[citation needed] In addition to standard anesthesthetic management of patients undergoing surgery, neurosurgical procedures require the anesthesiologist to have a strong knowledge base of neuroanatomy, neurophysiology, and understand advanced monitoring techniques including neuromonitoring of the brain and spinal cord.

It is impossible to routinely "monitor" the effects of drugs on CBF (cerebral blood flow), CMR, or ICP (intra-cranial pressure) as there is no neuroanesthetic equivalent of the pulmonary artery catheter or the transesophageal echocardiograph that permits a wide range of cerebral physiologic and pharmacologic effects to be followed easily.

[15] There has been widespread debate in medical societies and the peer-reviewed literature concerning the need for formal subspecialty training for anesthesiologists who staff neurosurgical cases.