At A Glance

This volume in the "Requisites in Anesthesia" series delivers all of today's key knowledge in regional anesthesia...in a concentrated, "high-yield" format that makes the material easy to master quickly! Concise, well organized chapters, superb illustrations, and at-a-glance figures and tables clarify everything from state-of-the-art basic science through advanced procedures. The book's tightly focused, user-friendly coverage makes it ideal both as a refresher for certification or recertification, and as a reference for everyday clinical practice.

Reviewer:	David Glick,  MD, MBA  (University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine)

Range Question Score 1-10 Are the author's objectives met? 8 1-10 Rate the worthiness of those objectives. 8 1-5 Is this written at an appropriate level? 5 1-5 Is there significant duplication? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4 1-5 Are there significant omissions? (1=significant, 5=insignificant) 4 1-5 Rate the authority of the authors. 4 1-5 Are there sufficient illustrations? 3 1-5 Rate the pedagogic value of the illustrations. 3 1-5 Rate the print quality of the illustrations. 4 1-5 Are there sufficient references? 5 1-5 Rate the currency of the references. 4 1-5 Rate the pertinence of the references. 3 1-5 Rate the helpfulness of the index. 4 1-5 If important in this specialty, rate the physical appearance of the book N/A 1-10 Is this a worthwhile contribution to the field? 8 1-10 If this is a 2nd or later edition, is this new edition needed? N/A

Reviewer:	David Glick,  MD, MBA  (University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine)

Description

This is a review that covers the indications, risks, and techniques of regional anesthesia.

Purpose

The authors' objective is to provide a concise review of regional anesthesia for the trainee preparing for the certification exam and the practitioner preparing for the recertification exam. The book is also supposed to serve as a resource for daily practice. The authors have written an excellent review of the material, but the book is not detailed enough to stand alone as a clinical reference for regional blocks.

Audience

The book is written for residents preparing for certification exams and practitioners going through the process of recertifying. The authors do a very good job of meeting the needs of the target readers.

Features

The book covers the basic anatomy and physiology of pain pathways and then provides a nuts-and-bolts approach to the issues and techniques for regional nerve blocks. The book is very well written and includes helpful highlight boxes throughout to reinforce the most important lessons in each chapter. Because the book is intended to be a review and not an atlas of regional anesthesia, the reader looking for a step-by-step approach to the performance of regional blocks might not find the text or the illustrations to be sufficient.

Assessment

This is an extremely readable book that covers the considerations for regional blocks in appropriate detail for the resident or practitioner preparing for certification exams. It would also be a useful resource for students or junior residents during their rotations on a service that performs frequent blocks. The book is more interesting to read than most reviews and covers the topic very well.