Postoperative recovery is inhibited by various factors induced by surgical invasion, such as abnormal sugar and protein metabolism, pain, digestive tract dysfunction, and immobility. These inhibition factors prevent early ambulation and oral ingestion after surgery. Shortened duration of hospitalization and reduced incidence of complications, which are the outcomes of measures used for hastening postoperative recovery, are considered to be due to the delay in early ambulation and oral ingestion. Among measures for hastening postoperative recovery, a recommended measure for surgical invasion is to minimize invasion through appropriate anesthesia management. For example, anesthesia management includes mitigation of invasive reaction using analgesics, appropriate infusion management, body temperature management, and management of carbohydrate load before and during surgery. Implementation of such measures for hastening postoperative recovery has been shown to reduce postoperative levels of inflammatory cytokines compared to those in conventional management and shorten the duration of hospitalization. In order to hasten patients' postoperative recovery, it is considered essential to reduce surgical invasion more effectively by combining anesthesia management measures with improvements in perioperative surgical procedures and patient care.
