This is the first book discussing the potential problems of the gastrointestinal tract during anesthesia, the perioperative period, and intensive care. It provides comprehensive information on the physiology, pathophysiology, diagnosis, and treatment of gut-associated problems. The chapters emphasize the novel concept that the gastrointestinal tract is a long-neglected target of anesthesia and of conditions and treatments related to the perioperative and postoperative period as well as intensive care. Drugs used in anesthesia and intensive care, trauma, and physiological or pathological changes in the perioperative period or in the intensive care unit affect the gastrointestinal tract in its function from the pharynx to the colon.