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Growing complexity of surgical and anaesthetic procedures requires a careful evaluation of the pre-operative patient status and an accurate intra-operative haemodynamic monitoring, considering the progressive increase of fragile and elderly population undergoing surgical procedures. Haemodynamic monitoring is not only an alert system avoiding misunderstanding errors (passive monitoring), but also a decisionmaking instrument for haemodynamic disarrangement evaluation (targeted or active monitoring) which allows prompt action. Haemodynamic monitoring is necessary for the global patient status assessment, both in the operating room and in intensive care unit. Monitoring devices are employed in an increasingly invasive and complex steps based on clinical examination and on the patient’s response to treatment. Appropriate and early application of diagnostic information from haemodynamic monitoring has been shown to reduce mortality and to improve outcome.