Published online 2005 Mar. doi: 10.2344/0003-3006(2005)52[45:CAPOTM]2.0.CO;2
W. E Hurford, editor. 2002. Lippicott Williams and Wilkins.
This 800-page softcover book is the latest edition of a best seller first published over 20 years ago. It can be called a handbook by any definition of the word. It emphasizes the clinical fundamentals involved in the safe administration of anesthesia, including pre-, post-, and perioperative care and patient evaluation as well as most aspects of pain management. Residents, fellows, staff, and alumni of the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care at the Massachusetts General Hospital contributed to the writing, which complements detailed textbooks and journals but is not intended to replace experienced clinical teaching and actual hands-on experience or to be a substitute for in-depth study. The contents are based on sound physiology and pharmacology principles and contain much background information and theoretical material. Each chapter includes a reading list for those who desire additional information on a particular topic. The body of the text is not directly referenced.
Residents, fellows, staff, and alumni of the Department of Anesthesia and Critical Care at the Massachusetts General Hospital contributed to the writing, which complements detailed textbooks and journals but is not intended to replace experienced clinical teaching and actual hands-on experience or to be a substitute for in-depth study.
The book is divided into 3 major sections: “Evaluating the Patient Before Anesthesia,” “Administration of Anesthesia,” and “Perioperative Issues.” It concludes with 2 appendices. The first appendix is titled “Supplementary Drugs” under the headings “Indications,” “Dosages,” “Effect,” “Clearance,” and “Comments,” and has several specific tables of commonly used antibiotics. The second appendix contains “Normal Laboratory Values for Blood Chemistry,” “Hematology,” and “Coagulation Indices.” In this latter appendix, some of the units used would not be familiar to all readers.
The 3 major sections have been divided into 39 chapters. These include chapters on evaluating patients who have “specific consideration with” cardiac, pulmonary, renal, liver, and endocrine disease. Also, chapters address anesthesia for almost every body system and eventuality. Specific chapters of interest to the dental anesthesiologist include “Monitoring,” “Intravenous and Inhalation Anesthetics,” “Airway Evaluation and Management,” “Local Anesthetics,” “Intra-anesthetic Problems,” “Ambulatory Anesthesia,” “Anesthesia Outside the Operating Room,” and “Pain.” Indeed, every chapter has a wealth of information to offer any healthcare provider.
New and updated chapters from previous editions contain the most recent cardiopulmonary resuscitation guidelines, including advanced cardiac life support, the expanded appendices, ambulatory anesthesia, alternative medicine, minimally invasive surgery, and regional anesthesia.
The contents of this book are comprehensive and produced in a convenient online format that allows quick access to the material. Key terms are highlighted in boldface type. The “single institutions approach” from a renowned center assures consistency, though it certainly does not preach dogmatism. As one example, it suggests that all patients who vomit or regurgitate during anesthesia should be intubated. Of course, this is debatable. Also, the only error of substance that I found was a table that lists the bolus dose of epinephrine for hypotension to be 20–100 mg intravenously. Naturally, this should have been micrograms, and it was corrected in the body of the text.
If a reader were to pick up this book and read it from cover to cover as I did, he or she would discover an absolute wealth of information in every chapter. Most readers would, however, seek out individual chapters for more specific information.
This book is aimed primarily at the resident who is either beginning or well into his or her anesthesia training, but it should find a place in the library of any anesthesia provider.
Articles from Anesthesia Progress are provided here courtesy of American Dental Society of Anesthesiology