Airway Management

From The Critics

Reviewer: Eric Jacobsohn, MBChB, FRCPC(University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine)
Description: The book presents the fundamental principles in assessing, managing, and treating airway problems in the prehospital period, emergency room, operating room, and intensive care unit. The first two-thirds of the book deals with the basic principles of airway management, including the anatomy, physiology, equipment, techniques, and drugs, and the last third of the book deals with specific clinical problems that clinicians often encounter.
Purpose: The book is designed to be an on-hand reference with drawings and photographic illustrations of various airway management techniques, as well as providing readily available tables and appendixes of important airway management information. The book is a supplement to the many excellent airway management texts already available.
Audience: The book is targeted for "practicing physicians, residents in medical and surgical fields, medical students, paramedics, emergency and critical care nurses, and respiratory therapists." The book is multiauthored, with contributors from the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom.
Features: The book is an elegant hardcover. There are ample, good quality illustrations that are generally relevant. The chapter references are comprehensive and current.
Assessment: The book largely meets the goals stated by the editors. It is a reasonably comprehensive airway management text. As is the case with a multiauthored text, particularly when targeted at a wide readership, some chapters are merely a brief synopsis of complex physiology or pharmacology. Although these chapters serve as good primers for nonanesthesia providers, they are of limited reference value for many anesthesia practitioners. The problem-focused chapters are excellent and provide a useful format for presenting difficult clinical problems. The book is a useful addition to an anesthesia or medical/surgical library, is a good reference text for nonanesthesia providers, and is a good supplementary text for the practicing anesthesia provider.

Eric Jacobsohn

The book presents the fundamental principles in assessing, managing, and treating airway problems in the prehospital period, emergency room, operating room, and intensive care unit. The first two-thirds of the book deals with the basic principles of airway management, including the anatomy, physiology, equipment, techniques, and drugs, and the last third of the book deals with specific clinical problems that clinicians often encounter. The book is designed to be an on-hand reference with drawings and photographic illustrations of various airway management techniques, as well as providing readily available tables and appendixes of important airway management information. The book is a supplement to the many excellent airway management texts already available. The book is targeted for practicing physicians, residents in medical and surgical fields, medical students, paramedics, emergency and critical care nurses, and respiratory therapists. The book is multiauthored, with contributors from the United States, Australia, Canada, and the United Kingdom. The book is an elegant hardcover. There are ample, good quality illustrations that are generally relevant. The chapter references are comprehensive and current. The book largely meets the goals stated by the editors. It is a reasonably comprehensive airway management text. As is the case with a multiauthored text, particularly when targeted at a wide readership, some chapters are merely a brief synopsis of complex physiology or pharmacology. Although these chapters serve as good primers for nonanesthesia providers, they are of limited reference value for many anesthesia practitioners. The problem-focused chapters are excellent andprovide a useful format for presenting difficult clinical problems. The book is a useful addition to an anesthesia or medical/surgical library, is a good reference text for nonanesthesia providers, and is a good supplementary text for the practicing anesthesia provider.

3 Stars from Doody