Smith’s Anesthesia for Infants and Children, 10th Edition
By: Peter J. Davis & Franklyn P. Cladis
ISBN: 9780323698252
Pub Date: December 17, 2021
Reviewed By: Daniella Nussbaum, M.D. (Yale School of Medicine)
Description
This book presents an in-depth discussion for the anesthesiologist on the care of infants and children. The book is divided into eight parts with a natural progression starting with the foundations of patient physiology and pharmacology, going through a general approach to the care of neonates and children, and then progressing through unique management related to pain and specialized surgical procedures and unique patient diseases. While the book is dense, each chapter covers succinct topics with ample graphics, figures, and pictures. This is the 10th edition, last published in 2017.
Purpose
The first edition of the book was published in 1959, and since that time, much has changed in the world of pediatric anesthesia and surgical intervention. The authors want to illustrate these changes and make this content accessible. The authors have made strides in order to both update the book’s content and format to improve ease of reading. In addition, in order to keep up with the world of technology, there is a unique website with a wide breadth of additional materials including videos. The book is needed as it has expounded upon the previous editions including the first, which has been described as “the bible” of pediatric anesthesia. The print edition, which is in color, is very easy to flip through and reference chapters and passages related to particular topics.
The online format helps as it offers many videos that aid in understanding techniques that are not easily portrayed in text. The book and website meet the objectives of the authors. The content is as good as, if not better than, prior editions and the organization of the text has been improved.
Audience
The book is written for practitioners – mainly anesthesiology care providers as the content is highly specialized. The book may be advanced for students, although some chapters and excerpts may be appropriate for them. The book meets the needs of its intended audience as the content covers all of the topics and considerations that are encountered every day as an advanced practitioner in pediatric anesthesiology. The contributing authors are highly credible from various credible and big name academic institutions throughout the country.
Features
The book covers a wide breadth of topics in anesthesia as it relates to the pediatric population. It first goes over basic physiology, which serves as the foundation for understanding more in-depth topics covered later in the text. Not only does it include physiology of all of the major organ systems, it also includes the understanding of behavioral development, which is so unique and important to taking care of this patient population. The book then covers pharmacology and is organized into all of the major classes of drugs used every day in the operating room. The pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics are different based on patient size and age and the book covers these unique considerations well. The next section covers the general approach to the care of infants and children starting from before even entering the operating room.
The book then covers the tools and equipment used every day and in which situations one approach may be superior to another and then the general management of an anesthetic. The book then covers pain management. The philosophy of treatment of pain in children has changed over the years and this section covers both acute and chronic pain management and highlights many regional anesthetic techniques. The bulk of the text is covered in the next section, which covers the management of different surgeries broken down by surgical subspecialty. This helps to understand the unique considerations of the anesthesiologist’s surgical colleagues as well as important physiologic changes with different surgeries and what can be expected with regard to different procedures. The next section covers systemic disorders and associated problems. This is a very good review for the anesthesiologist who may not have the same experience or expertise on general disorders often encountered by pediatricians. The chapter covers these disorders and how they are relevant to the anesthetic management of patients with these disorders. The last two sections round out the text covering the critical care as well as other miscellaneous topics. The sections on clinical management of specialized surgical procedures and systemic disorders and associated problems are done extremely well covering the topics in depth with expertise that is unique to this text. Other sections are also done very well, but are done very well in other texts as well. The writing is easy to read and appreciate the references to other chapters where a particular fact is covered better elsewhere in the book. The organization of the book is perhaps its best feature. The online edition has even more material with expert videos especially helpful to the auditory visual learner. The book is very dense and may not be appropriate for a students or early resident but is very valuable for the pediatric anesthesiologist. There are no topics that are not covered, at least broadly.
Assessment
The quality of the book is excellent. I cannot imagine having a better book for reference for my future career as a pediatric anesthesiologist. When I have a patient with a unique disease or have an upcoming case with a surgery I have not encountered, this is the text to reach for. This updated text benefits from better organization as well as excellent color.
©Doody’s Review Service, 2022, Daniella Nussbaum, M.D. (Yale School of Medicine)
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