BOOK REVIEW

Your Guide to Paediatric AnaesthesiaEdited by Craig Sims & Chris Johnson McGraw HillMedical Australia, 2011 ISBN-10 007100022-4

Every so often, a book comes along that is a ‘must-

have’ for trainees, and this book by authors from the

Princess Margaret Hospital for Children in Perth, Aus-

tralia, is exactly that and more. This book is so practi-

cally oriented with sensible, safe advice based on a

mass of clinical experience that it is an ideal primer for

anesthetic trainees about to embark on a pediatric

attachment but has enough detail to act as a revision

text for exams. It could also be a useful refresher for

established senior staff and in particular those who

have a mixed pediatric and adult practice or who are

occasionally called upon to look after children. I think

our operating theater and recovery room staff could

also use this book to gain a better understanding of

what is involved in our specialty. In particular, anes-

thetic nurses and operating department practitioners

would find this book really useful.

So what is so great about it? First, it is very clearly

and consistently laid out with loads of summary tables,

highlighted key points, and practical tips and illus-

trated with simple, effective graphics. In accord with

modern learning theory, you get an overview right at

the beginning, and the top 12 current issues in the field

are headlined. The reader is encouraged to regularly

reflect on what they have read by working through

review questions, and the bibliographies for each chap-

ter are helpfully laid out as selected key reviews or

articles by subtopic. These are drawn from the world-

wide literature and are remarkably up to date. Further

reading is effectively directed by this approach. Refer-

ences are not cited in-text, and this helps the easy

readability of the book. The content is excellent and

well prioritised with coverage early on of the two main

things that spook novices about children: understand-

ing their behavior at different developmental stages

and managing the pediatric airway. The scientific basis

of practice is beautifully covered in chapters on phar-

macology, fluid therapy, and equipment. Resuscitation,

acute pain management, and regional anesthesia are

core topics and concisely covered. The implications for

the anesthetist of respiratory diseases, chronic child-

hood illnesses, and congenital syndromes are summa-

rized with good references to further reading for more

detail. Nice chapters on anesthesia for neonatal and

pediatric general surgery are followed by the specialties

and systems. I particularly liked that the common sce-

narios are well covered and given prominence, for

example removal of airway foreign body. Critical ill-

ness and management of the severely ill and injured

child are summarized well. I was particularly pleased

to see a chapter on procedural sedation and also

sensible advice regarding the anesthetist’s role in child

protection.

So I think this book will gain a well-deserved popu-

larity among trainees and other staff and also among

senior staff for Continuing Professional Development

and as a revalidation refresher. Many will feel a twinge

of jealousy: some will wish they had had such a book

when they were embarking on their pediatric anesthe-

sia careers while others (me included) will wish they

had written this book!!

Neil S. Morton

Department of Paediatric Anaesthesia,

Royal Hospital for Sick Children,

Glasgow G3 8SJ,

Scotland, UK

Email: neilmorton@mac.com

doi: 10.1111/j.1460-9592.2011.03779.x

Pediatric Anesthesia ISSN 1155-5645

ª 2012 Blackwell Publishing Ltd 297Pediatric Anesthesia 22 (2012) 297