Consentimiento informado. ？Un derecho?... ？Un deber?...

introduction: the informed consent is based in the bioethical principle of the autonomy. it is defined as the approval of patient to carry out or not a medical procedure, after to receive and understand all the information necessary to take a free and intelligent decision. objectives: to deepen in the principles governing its confection and general implementation and specifically in the anesthesiology practice as well as to reflect on its use in cuba. development: the informed consent has two main senses: the legal one and the ethical whose association is established by the physician-patient relationship. the relationship anesthesiologist-patient is weak without continuity and the time own of other medical procedures; thus the professional must to overcome the patient's fears related to anesthesia and to gain its confidence. the informed consent in anesthesiology will be independent of that made by surgeon what the patient will sign before to receive the pre-anesthesia medication. in cuba it is not used in a generalized way as a document necessary in the take of decision of patient, except in research protocols in humans. conclusions: informed consent is a link physician-patient started from the first day of consultation, with a special sense in anesthesiology. it is suitable its promotion in cuba and to carry out a great popularization and implementation since it is a right and a duty of patients and physicians.