Anesthesia Central vs AANA Journal
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
Anesthesia Central
This app provides anesthesiologists and critical care specialists with essential information for patient care before, during, and after surgery. It includes disease, drug, test, and procedure details, along with access to the PubMed database for journal articles.
- Disease, drug, test, and procedure information
- Access to PubMed database
- MGH Clinical Anesthesia Procedures
- Davis's Drug Guide
- Pocket ICU Management
- Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests
- Integrated calculators
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** The All-In-One Mobile and Web Solution for Anesthesiology ** ABOUT ANESTHESIA CENTRAL Anesthesia Central is a must-have resource for every anesthesiologist, critical care specialist, nurse anesthetist, and trainee. Consult the automatically updating collection of disease, drug, test, and procedure information for treating patients before, during, and after surgery. Download to your mobile device and use the quick-read format to find answers fast or search for journal articles and citations in the full PubMed database – anytime, anywhere. Five comprehensive resources included with Anesthesia Central. MGH CLINICAL ANESTHESIA PROCEDURES Includes proven guidelines for preoperative, intraoperative, and postoperative anesthesia care, developed by the renowned Massachusetts General Hospital. DAVIS’S DRUG GUIDE Refer to need-to-know information on dosing, contraindications, drug interactions, and patient education for more than 5,000 medications. POCKET ICU MANAGEMENT Focuses on conditions found in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and covers a range of topics from life-threatening disorders to presenting conditions. POCKET GUIDE TO DIAGNOSTIC TESTS Pocket Guide to Diagnostics Tests provides evidence-based recommendations on the selection and interpretation of over 450 laboratory, imaging, and microbiology tests. Prime PubMed Search Connect to the full MEDLINE/PubMed database. Stay up to date with your favorite medical journals, perform powerful searches, link directly to the publisher’s full text, and share articles via email or social media. Visually explore the literature using Grapherence®, a unique way to find related and relevant articles. FEATURES • Receive 1-year of drug updates • Download any new editions of included resources free for 1-year • Make quick calculations with integrated calculators • Create custom notes and highlights within entries • Consult trusted, up-to-date procedure, drug, and test information • Jump quickly between resources using Cross Links • Access to PubMed database through Prime • Use the advanced search capabilities to find topics fast • Bookmark important entries with “Favorites” • Get access to Anesthesia Central website for 1-year DRUG AND CONTENT UPDATES • After initial Anesthesia Central purchase you will receive updates for one year • After one year, you can purchase updates for an additional year, at the discounted rate of $99.99. If you do not choose to purchase, you can continue to use the product but will not receive updates. • This app will automatically renew annually at the current renewal rate ($99.99) and charged to your iTunes account at confirmation of purchase, unless auto-renew is turned off 24 hours prior to the conclusion of the one-year subscription period. • Subscriptions may be managed by the user and auto-renewal may be turned off by going to the user's Account Settings after purchase. Clinical Anesthesia Procedures of the Massachusetts General Hospital: Senior Editor: Wilton C. Levine, MD Associate Editors: Rae M. Allain, MD; Theodore A. Alston, MD, PhD; Peter F. Dunn, MD; Jean Kwo, MD; Carl E. Rosow, MD, PhD Publisher: Lippincott Willams & Wilkins Pocket ICU Management: Authors: Michael H. Wall, MD, FCCM; Pamela R. Roberts, MD, FCCM; J. Christopher Farmer, MD, FCCM Publisher: PocketMedicine.com Davis's Drug Guide: Authors: April Hazard Vallerand, PhD, RN, FAAN; Cynthia A. Sanoski, BS, PharmD, FCCP, BCPS Publisher: F.A. Davis Pocket Guide to Diagnostic Tests: Editors: Diana Nicoll, MD, PhD, MPA; Chuanyi Mark Lu, MD; Michael Pignone, MD, MPH; Stephen J. McPhee, MD Publisher: McGraw-Hill Medical Unbound Privacy Policy: www.unboundmedicine.com/privacy Unbound Terms of Use: https://www.unboundmedicine.com/end_user_license_agreement
AANA Journal
Access the latest issues of a leading medical publication on your mobile device. Receive automatic notifications for new content, keeping you updated with essential information in your field.
- Bimonthly publication access
- Automatic new issue notifications
- Mobile device availability
- Published by American Association of Nurse Anesthetists
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The AANA Journal, published bimonthly by the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists (AANA), is available free of charge as a mobile device app. Notification of the availability of each new issue will appear automatically in the AANA Journal App. Please see the AANA Privacy Policy at https://www.aana.com/aana-privacy-policy
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is in-app purchases: AANA Journal at none against Anesthesia Central's 2. AANA Journal also leads on rating (5.0 vs 4.6) and iOS requirement (12.2 vs 15.0). Anesthesia Central's advantage is ratings volume (105 vs 5) and chart position (#192 vs unranked). On price, review sentiment, update cadence and ads there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Both are free to download. Anesthesia Central sells 2 in-app purchases, starting at $99.99 per year. AANA Journal asks for nothing beyond the download.
AANA Journal holds the better App Store score, 5.0 against 4.6. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Anesthesia Central has 105 ratings behind it against 5, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 74% of Anesthesia Central's written reviews are positive against 80% of AANA Journal's.
Anesthesia Central ships an update every 9 months, AANA Journal every 13 months. The most recent releases landed on October 22, 2026 and October 8, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | Anesthesia Central | AANA Journal |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Free | Free |
| Rating | 4.6 (105 ratings) | 5.0 (5 ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 74.4% of reviews | 80.0% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 105 — better | 5 |
| Update frequency | Every 9 months — better | Every 13 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | No — better |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free — better |
| Best chart rank | #192 — better | — |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 15.0 | 12.2 — better |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 9 MB | 73 MB |
| Age rating | 17+ | 12+ |
| Developer | Unbound Medicine, Inc. | AANA (American Association of Nurse Anesthetists) |
Customer experience
Anesthesia Central
AANA Journal
In-app purchases
Anesthesia Central
- Anesthesia Central Renewal$99.991 Year
- Anesthesia Central$169.99
AANA Journal
No in-app purchases
Questions
Is Anesthesia Central free?
Is AANA Journal free?
Which has better reviews, Anesthesia Central or AANA Journal?
Do Anesthesia Central or AANA Journal have ads?
Which is updated more often, Anesthesia Central or AANA Journal?
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