Anaesthesia Pain Intensive Care and Emergency A.P.I.C.E : Proceedings of the 20th Postgraduate Course in Critical Care Medicine Trieste Italy — November 18–21 2005 Progress in the field of medicine over the last 50 years has led to important results for society both in terms of prevention and in the treatment of single or variously associated pathologies. The main objective of modern medicine has been the acquisition of increased skills and highly specialised knowledge in the various disciplines. At the same time there has been a progressive multidisciplinary and multi professional interest in acute disease conditions that place the patient in potential or real life threatening situations. The state of the art of intensive medicine comprises a wide range of sophisticated interventions and collaboration between different medical disciplines both of which give the patient access to the most advanced forms of treatment that are currently available.