Book Review

Your Guide to PaediatricAnaesthesia

C Sims & C JohnsonMcGraw-Hill Medical (Australian edition),1 Nov 2011ISBN 978-0071000222, 374 pp.,Price £87.99

This is a new book published by the

team from Princess Margaret Hospi-

tal for Children in Perth, Australia,

aimed at trainee anaesthetists under-

taking training in paediatric anaes-

thesia.

The book itself is divided into 31

chapters starting with the principles

of paediatric anaesthesia, including

pharmacology, fluid management

and the bio-psychosocial manage-

ment of the child. There are chapters

covering neonatal surgery, chronic

disease in the paediatric population

and congenital syndromes and their

influence on anaesthesia.

The book then describes anaes-

thetic techniques for the various

surgical specialities. The authors

include chapters on paediatric inten-

sive care and child protection, which

I found particularly well written and

easy to understand.

There are two sections that the

anaesthetist preparing for the FRCA

exam may find extremely useful. The

first is a list of ‘Current Issues’, found

at the beginning of the book with

page references to the main body of

the book. The second is at the end of

the book, listing all the questions

relating to paediatric anaesthesia

from previous FANZCA and FRCA

exams. The inclusion of these sec-

tions demonstrates that the authors

have thought about, and appreciate

the needs of, their target readership.

Aspects of the book that I par-

ticularly liked are the highlighted

‘Note’, ‘Tip’ and ‘Key Point’ sections.

These contain concise summaries of

the text and pearls of wisdom which

I wish I had known before I started

my training in paediatric anaesthesia.

The chapters are succinct, con-

cise and contain all the information

required, without going into unim-

portant or unnecessary detail that

will be superfluous to requirements

for most anaesthetists, unless they

are going to be working in a very

specialised paediatric hospital. The

illustrations are very informative,

particularly those of equipment with

which the readership may be unfa-

miliar.

The crucial question is whether I

would recommend this book to my

junior colleagues. If they need an easy-

to-read, well-written text to learn

about paediatric anaesthesia, either

as a novice or with some prior expe-

rience, the answer is a wholehearted

yes. I would also recommend this text

to those studying for their FRCA

examination and as an invaluable

reference tool for consultants who

occasionally anaesthetise children.

B. GrahamLocum Consultant AnaesthetistImperial College Healthcare NHSTrustSt Mary’s Hospital, LondonEmail:benjamin.graham@imperial.nhs.uk

doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2044.2012.07119.x

Anaesthesia 2012

Anaesthesia ª 2012 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland 1