In 1951, the Brazilian Journal of Anesthesiology was established as the official publication of the Brazilian Society of Anesthesiology. The journal was internationally acknowledged in the editorial entitled A New Journal is Born by Howard Dittrick, editor in chief of the Current Researches in Anesthesia and Analgesia [1951 Sept-Oct; 5 (30)].

The Brazilian Journal of Anesthesiology has been devoted to publishing original scientific manuscripts on anesthesiology and/or correlated areas by national and international researchers. Its target audience comprises anesthesiologists who are members of the Brazilian Society of Anesthesiology and other physicians with interest in the area. The journal promotes the progress, improvement, and disclosure of anesthesiology, intensive care, treatment of pain, and cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

From 1951 to 1969, the Brazilian Journal of Anesthesiology was published every three months. Since 1970, it has been published every two months.
The Brazilian Journal of Anesthesiology has been published in Portuguese and English since January 2001.
From 2005 to 2015, it was also published in Spanish, electronically.