Abstract

Churchill, the so well-known British politician, said that once you do a good thing you already created a tradition! The first international symposium on Ambulatory Anesthesia and Analgesia (AAA) held in March 2017 in Zurich, Switzerland, was a real success. More than 150 participants, dozens of lectures and 3 workshops, but mainly the scientific and professional atmosphere left a deep impression and a need for more. This is why we decided to organize a new symposium (Zurich, March 8-9, 2019), with the same focus, this time even more comprehensive, covering more of the interesting field of ambulatory anesthesia. This time we intend to organize the discussion by dividing them into three categories: the preoperative assessment and preparation of the surgical patient, the intraoperative period and the immediate postoperative supervision and management. New items will not be forgotten such as the logistics and functionality of an ambulatory surgery and anesthesia setup, as well as the criteria of home discharge after each kind of procedure. One special panel will be dedicated to the question of the place of high-risk patients on the operating list of an ambulatory institution. It is our intention to dedicate a significant slot to the topic of chronic pain management, a field of interest for any ambulatory healthcare clinic. The 2019 symposium will be organized in conjunction with the American Society for Ambulatory Anesthesia (SAMBA) and we are confident to host some of its prominent speakers in our scientific program. The organizing committee aims to instill a real tradition in the professional landscape of Europe by having a second symposium on this topic and will therefore attract specialists from all over the countries, involved in the field of ambulatory anesthesia and analgesia.