Bandolier's Little Book of Making Sense of the Medical Evidence. A. Moore and H. McQuay (editors). Published by Oxford University Press, Oxford. Pp. 415; indexed; illustrated. Price {pound}24.95. ISBN 98-0-19-856604-5.

As the title of the book clearly states, this book is aboutmaking sense of the medical evidence. Although plenty of booksabout general evidence based medicine has been published recently,this little book seems to have found its own ‘niche’—anapproach to the topic that is different from other publications.The book     

Clinical Anesthesia Procedures of the Massachusetts General Hospital, 6th Edn.

This excellent book, now in its sixth edition, is very muchthe residents’ anaesthetic bible in the USA. Being theproduct of a single university teaching hospital, it does notsuffer from some of the editorial confusion seen in larger multi-authorbooks and yet, surprisingly, there is little cross-referencingbetween sections. It is not a book that one reads, cover tocover, while studying for an examination, but rather is a comprehensive‘white     

'Bloody easy'; Blood Transfusions, Blood Alternatives and Transfusion Reactions; A Guide to Transfusion Medicine

‘Bloody Easy’; Blood Transfusions, Blood Alternativesand Transfusion Reactions; A Guide to Transfusion Medicine,to give it its full title, is a pocket-sized book that bringstogether the necessary information for the safe practice oftransfusion. The book itself is small, but it accompanies a more extensiveinternet-based learning package provided by Drs     

Essentials of Pain Medicine and Regional Anaesthesia. H. T. Benzon, S. N. Raja, R. E. Mallou, S. S. Lui and S. M. Fishman (editors). Published by Elsevier, Philidelphia. Pp. 734; indexed; illustrated. Price {pound}46.99. ISBN 0-443 06651-5

I have been very impressed by this book. The title ‘Essentialsof Pain Medicine and Regional Anaesthesia’ seems optimistic,because the authors attempt to cover all aspects of pain medicineand regional anaesthesia in one volume. It is an ambitious task,but in the view of this reviewer it is one in which they succeed.This is the second edition of this book, and I believe thatthis edition     

Techniques in Clinical Neurophysiology: A Practical Manual. R. Cooper, C. D. Binnie and R. Billings (editors). Published by Elsevier, Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Pp. 428: indexed; illustrated. Price {pound}44.99. ISBN 0-443-10092-6.

This book is actually derived from two volumes of a larger text‘Clinical Neurophysiology’. The material selectedis aimed not primarily at physicians practising clinical neurophysiologybut neurophysiology technicians and scientists. The emphasisis, therefore, very much on     

Clinical Anesthesia, 5th Edn. P. G. Barash, B. F. Cullen and R. K. Stoelting (editors). Published by Lippincott, Williams and Wilkins, Philadelphia, USA. Pp 1549; indexed; illustrated. Price US$ 179.00. ISBN 0-781705745-2.

This is the 5th edition of this major American textbook. Intheir introduction, the editors restate the original aim ofthis book: ‘to develop a textbook that supports efficientand rapid acquisition of knowledge’. They also state thatthis edition has undergone extensive revision in content andformat and that the authors have been encouraged to emphasizethe clinical themes and     

Fundamentals of Anaesthesia, 2nd Edn.

The first edition of this basic textbook appeared in 1999. Itwas reprinted in 2000 and a second edition has now been publishedonly 3 years later. These facts alone vouch for its popularity. The basic format of the book is unchanged, with Section 1being devoted to clinical anaesthesia, including clinical anatomy.Section 2 covers physiology, with an extra chapter on neonatalphysiology, and new chapters on neurology and endocrinology.Section 3, pharmacology, has been updated and now     

Uncommon Problems in Intensive Care

I did wonder whether a book on ‘uncommon problems’in intensive care would be able to compete with the internet,given that most intensive care units in the UK have some formof internet access. The preface to this book states that itintends ‘to be different’, but     

Textbook of Obstetric Anaesthesia.

Some books say ‘read me’, and I think this is oneof them. The excellent opening chapter on the history of obstetricanaesthesia foretells a book that is interesting, informative,and stimulating. It is an attractive book that has been carefullyillustrated. Each chapter has an introductory index, which makesit easy to find what you are looking for, whether you are aspecialist registrar in the run up to the Final FRCA, or a DGHobstetric anaesthetist wanting to know how to handle a problem.It is a book that would also be useful for a     

Core Topics in Cardiac Anaesthesia. J. H. Mackay and J. E. Arrowsmith (editors). Published by Cambridge University Press, Cambridge. Pp. 440; indexed; illustrated. Price {pound}35.00. ISBN 1-841-10133-8

This book, with the self-explanatory title ‘Core Topicsin Cardiac Anaesthesia’ has no fewer than sixty-two authorscovering sixty-six topic-specific chapters and a comprehensiveindex and abbreviary. Any of the sixty-two contributors readingthis can breathe very much more easily from here on, as thisis a very good book indeed, with few criticisms to make or pointsto take     

Principles of Airway Management, 3rd Edn

This dual-authored book gives a concise and comprehensive reviewof airway management that will be useful not only for anaesthetistsbut also for intensivists, accident and emergency surgeons,and other doctors and paramedical personnel who may have toassume responsibility for the patient’s airway. The thirdedition has been expanded and updated and there is a new, muchneeded chapter dedicated to the laryngeal mask airway (LMA).It is a well-written book and an enjoyable read. The     

Henry Hill Hickman by W.D.A. Smith. A. Padfield, E. N. Armitage, F. E. Bennetts and P. M. E. Drury (editors). Published by the History of Anaesthesia Society, Sheffield. Pp. 80; illustrated. Price {pound}12.00. ISBN 0-901100-59-5.

This is a little book about Dr Henry Hickman, who in 1823 induced‘suspended animation’ in small mammals using carbondioxide and then performed surgery on them. The animals showedno signs of pain, and all survived their surgery. He realizedthat if it were possible to induce suspended animation in man,it would make for     

Evidence-based Resource in Anaesthesia and Analgesia, 2nd Edn.

Medical authors lack the freedom enjoyed by other writers tocreate evocative titles, but even within those constraints thisone remains a real clunker: barely grammatical yet with morethan a hint of self-importance. This impression is not dispelledby an introduction in which the self-regarding tone is perpetuatedby the editor’s assertion that ‘...this is not aconventional textbook. And those who are looking for authoritativeopinion, eminence-based doctrine, and cookbook medicine willdefinitely be disappointed’. Indeed. A somewhat less partisanoutline of the book does then follow, before he reminds us that‘Economic constraints are increasingly interacting withclinicians’ freedom to use their favourite interventions’.A simple substitution even of the word ‘preferred’for ‘favourite’, reveals just how condescendinglythat comment has been phrased. It was some relief, therefore,to escape from     

Nicolas Andry de Bois-Regard (Lyon 1658–Paris 1742): the inventor of the word “orthopaedics” and the father of parasitology

This is an historical essay about Nicolas Andry, a French medical doctor (Lyon 1658–Paris 1742) who wrote in 1741 the famous book called “L’orthopedie”, which was soon after translated into English (1742) “Orthopaedia or the art of correcting and preventing deformities in children”. His life and works are detailed as the containment of the book composed of two volumes and many engravings (the crooked tree has become the symbol of numerous orthopaedic societies around the world). A discussion of semantics (ORTHO-PEDIE) and evolution of the meaning of this word is also discussed.     

Handbook of Clinical Anaesthesia, 2nd Edn. B. J. Pollard (editor). Published by Churchill Livingstone, Edinburgh. Pp. 821; indexed; illustrated. Price {pound}59.95. ISBN 0-443-07259-0.

This book, presented in a new, updated format this year, istargeted at UK-based practitioners, more expressly at traineeanaesthetists as a ‘concise but comprehensive’ sourceof clinical information, and at ‘qualified anaesthetists’as an ‘indispensable aide-memoire’. Its format ismodern, utilizing terse language, bullet-pointed presentationof facts and, whenever appropriate, tables. With its ‘problem-orientatedapproach’ it claims ‘fast access’     

Narrative, Pain and Suffering. D. B. Carr, J. D. Loeser and D. B. Morris (editors). Published by IASP Press, Seattle, USA. Pp. 362; indexed; illustrated. ISBN 0-931092-57-4.

In the preface to Narrative, Pain and Suffering, the editorsexplain, ‘This book embodies the state-of-the art, multidisciplinaryperspective of a path-breaking (sic) international workdrop.’They go on to list the diverse disciplines from neurobiology     

Critical Care Medicine: Principles of Diagnosis and Management in the Adult

This impressive, 1770-page book weighs in at 3.78 kg. The weightytome is the second edition of a text that seeks to provide anauthoritative, comprehensive book aimed at practising criticalcare physicians. The goal was to produce the acknowledged standardin critical care medicine. While I do not understand what thegoal of ‘acknowledged standard’ means in the contextof a textbook, this one certainly achieves     

The Year in Anaesthesia and Critical Care; No 1. J. M. Hunter, T. M. Cook, H.-J. Priebe, M. M. R. F. Struys (editors). Published by Clinical Publishing (Atlas Medical Publishing Ltd), Oxford. Pp. 432; illustrated. Price {pound}59.99. ISBN 1-904392-47-4

This new volume summarizing papers published in the year 2004in anaesthesia and critical care is unashamedly focused on theneed for continuing medical education and professional development(CEPD) in practising career-grade clinicians. It is describedin the foreword by the president of the Royal College of Anaesthetistsas a ‘new concept in book-based CEPD’. The book is not all-inclusive, but has concentrated on four     

Oxford Textbook of Medicine, 4th Edn

The fourth edition of this famous tome is again in three volumes.One stands in awe as one surveys it. It is truly a great work,and the effort that must go into producing this book is inestimable.It is now 20 yr since it was first published. The original editor,David Weatherall, has passed on the burden not only to DavidWarrell (Oxford) who helped edit the earlier edition, but alsotwo physicians from Cambridge (Cox and Firth). For the firsttime, the book also has an American editor, Edward J. Benz Jr—afashionable trend, rightly used in an attempt to increase internationalsales. The books have more modern covers than the