OBJECTIVES: To count the scientific publications coming from Spanish departments of anesthesiology and rank them by productivity using various bibliometric tools. To examine the evolution of productivity between 1992 and 2001. METHOD: Abstracts of articles from Spanish anesthesiology departments were located on Medline. Hospital departments were ranked by productivity based on number of publications. Other classifications were established based on the international impact of articles measured by "net" impact factor (IF) of the journals and "relative" IF (according to the category assigned by Journal Citation Reports [JCR]). The evolution of scientific productivity was analyzed by five-years periods. RESULTS: We located 644 entries for articles published in Spanish journals and 182 for articles in journals outside Spain. Ten departments of anesthesiology produced 68% of the articles in non-Spanish journals. Hospital Clinic i Provincial in Barcelona was the most productive (55 publications, 27 in foreign journals). Hospital del Mar published articles in journals with the highest IF (mean 2.63). When IF results were adjusted by JCR category, Hospital Clinic i Provincial had the best quantitative and qualitative indexes. Hospital Torrecardenas had the best evolution in scientific productivity in the last five years. CONCLUSION: The scientific productivity of Spanish anesthesiology departments has evolved favorably over the past 10 years, led by Hospital Clinic i Provincial.