Over the past two decades, there has been a worldwide exponential growth in the use of simulation in healthcare. Anesthesiologists were among the pioneers to develop simulation-based education, training and research in medicine. Simulation for such purposes in this discipline includes the use of tasks trainers, which fidelity goes from simple low-tech to complex virtual reality simulators, computer-based simulations, full scale simulations using high-fidelity mannequins, and many other techniques. The present work reviews and summarizes the research conducted on the use of simulation for education, training and research in anesthesiology, with a special focus on the contribution of our research group in the understanding of this domain. It reviews the following areas: the definitions of simulation and simulators; the theories and educational principles underpinning simulation-based education; the evaluation of the use and the impact of simulation in anesthesiology to teach specific technical skills and generic non-technical skills; and finally the use of simulation as an evaluation tool for summative assessment and as a means for research in human factors. The evidence presented in this review supports the claim that simulation techniques are an essential tool both in anesthesiology and in many other healthcare professions. Some recent findings even suggest that the use of simulation may be cost-effective, since for some very specific skills such as central venous line placement and neonatal resuscitation, it has been shown to improve patient care and to reduce patient adverse events. Because the future adoption and dissemination of simulation will depend on our capacity as educators, clinicians and researchers to gather more convincing evidence, current and future research perspectives of particular interests for our study group are discussed.