[Premedication. Pharmacologic preparation prior to regional or general anesthesia]

Patient safety and patient well-being are indications for premedication prior to regional or general anaesthesia. Patient well-being may be improved by anxiolytic acting premedication or analgetic premedication to patients in pain. Side-effects of premedication, as anticholinergic effects or emesis, should be avoided. In outpatient clinics it is important to avoid premedication regimens which may prolong patient recovery after the procedure. The paper discusses the principles of premedication, and includes a survey of the main drugs presently available for this purpose.