**5. Conclusions**

Total hip replacement has been quoted as "the operation of the twentieth century" and one of the most successful and cost-effective procedures in orthopedics. It is usually associated with the high satisfaction of the patients and the improvement of the quality of life following surgery. Great advances in both surgical and anesthesia

*Anesthesia for Hip Replacement DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.104666*

techniques have allowed us to extend indication for hip replacement to elderly patients with multiple comorbidities. In this regard, the role of the anesthesiologist is fundamental and should follow the patient along his/her entire journey from the preoperative assessment, in order to optimize patient's conditions and plan the best anesthesia technique, to the postoperative recovering to provide an adequate pain control and minimize the risk of preventable complications such as postoperative delirium. A personalized approach has, therefore, become a routinely strategy for anesthesiologists in many specialized centers with all facilities and the necessary know-how. However, there are still several open controversies such as pro and cons related to general versus locoregional anesthesia and the prevention of postoperative complications. Artificial intelligence is among the most promising technology that may further innovate the field of hip replacement in the next years. In particular, machine learning and deep learning methods could markedly improve patient risk stratification and support anesthesiologists in the decision of the best approach to adopt with a specific patient. Such algorithms will need high-quality data to perform with high accuracy and a strong validation process to be trustable but, in return, will provide clinical decision support systems (CDSSs) able to aid physicians in weighing competing healthcare goals and numerous risks by facilitating multiple outcome optimization of outcomes that are too difficult to recognize and navigate on an individual and isolated basis.

This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Tobia Maria.
