The automated anesthesia record.

The handwritten anesthesia record requires the attention of the anesthesiologist. During critical moments, however, the anesthesiologist may be too busy to record data by hand; handwritten records, therefore, can be inaccurate. The volume of data that must be monitored during anesthesia today makes it impossible to record data by hand often enough to enable a meaningful review of the anesthetic procedure. Automated systems, therefore, are required for the correct capture of intraoperative data; such systems are now becoming available.