Obesity is a worldwide issue. Anesthesiologists are facing challenges in the perioperative care of patients with obesity undergoing weight loss surgery. Bariatric surgery and anesthesia for treating subjects with obesity have evolved recently in terms of techniques, tools, and procedures. The important goals of bariatric anesthesia and surgery are to minimize the length of hospital stay, enhance recovery after surgery, and avoidance of postoperative pulmonary complications. To achieve this, many anesthetic and surgical techniques have been adopted recently. In this special issue of bariatric anesthesia, many topics are going to be addressed by eminent authors from all over the world. The physiological and pharmacological aspects of patients with obesity are discussed in this issue. In modern bariatric anesthesia practice, lung protective strategies are also covered in this issue. Optimizing the patient condition shortly before surgery and enhanced recovery after bariatric anesthesia with reference to fluid management are well documented in this special issue. Preoperative preparation and premedication of patients with obesity is well covered in this issue as well. Comprehensive preoperative evaluation focused on comorbidities, such as diabetes, coronary artery disease, and obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, and appropriate equipment for positioning, anesthesia, and surgery are well discussed in this issue. Besides airway management, the use of high-flow nasal oxygenation has recently been introduced to improve the apnea period during tracheal intubation. Novel techniques of preoxygenation and apneic oxygenation are well described in this issue. Pain relief following weight loss surgery is well covered with special reference to the use of ultrasound techniques. Besides other related articles, it was an excellent coincidence that our “Bariatric Anesthesia” fellowship program was approved and launched during the preparation of this issue.
We tried in this special issue to give our readers an update on bariatric anesthesia. The tremendous help and endless support we had received from the elite authors who kindly contributed to this issue especially in this difficult time has definitely contributed to the success of this piece of art. I hereby heartedly would like to thank all of them for their time and patience shown during the production of this special issue on bariatric anesthesia.