Paediatric anaesthesia--past, present and future.

On 27th August 1986, the 5th David Vervat Lecture was presented in Rotterdam by Professor emeritus Gordon Jackson Rees, M.B., Ch. B. (Liverpool). For his pioneering work Professor Jackson Rees may be called the father of paediatric anaesthesia, which is now conquering the world as a specialty of anaesthesia (Fig. 1). Mr. David Vervat is likewise a legend in his own lifetime for his pioneering work in paediatric surgery in the Netherlands, during which he felt so deeply the need for paediatric anaesthesia for his patients. As such this lecture represented a real tribute to David Vervat.