482 | Book reviews
Complications and Mishaps in Anesthesia, M. Hubler, T. Koch and K. B. Domino (editors), 1st edn,
2014. Published by Springer. Pp. 365. Price: 53.99. ISBN: 978-3-642-45406-6.
My rst impression looking at the futuristic green and blue design
on the cover, was that this was going to be a very technical dissec-
tion of error, much in the style of other human factors and avi-
ation error books. What unfolds however, is slightly different.
The book opens with biographies of the ctional characters
found in the clinical vignettes that follow, a little like the opening
notes for a play. Each chapter leads then with a clinical vignette,
some form of critical incident, a discussion of clinical issues and
a dissection of the causes of the mishap.
Woven into each chapter is a ctional back story to set the
scene. I was conicted about this element to the book. Sometimes
it was insightful and engaging with characters revealing internal
monologues, at other times I felt that the stories did not ring true
or were distracting (e.g. former lovers making eye contact across a
busy theatre). Later on, some of the stories are told from the per-
spective of the patient and that does add an unusual twist the
story of the accidental awareness under anaesthesia being of note.
The style is more oriented towards the USA with phrases such
as billing procedures requiring the presence of an attending
having little meaning in the present NHS. Other elements such
as relatives being able to give informed consent if an adult lacked
capacity would not hold true in the UK.
Stoeltings Pharmacology and Physiology in Anesthetic Practice. P. Flood, J. P. Rathmell and S. Shafer
(editors), 5th edn, 2015. Published by Wolters Kluwer. Pp. 900. Price 101.70, $169.99. ISBN-13:
978-1605475509.
The 1st edition of this classic textbook appeared in 1986 and the
4th edition was published in 2006. This 5th edition has a change
in authorship and style but retains much of the original charac-
ter. The book is edited by three distinguished USA anaesthetists
who have overseen the revision and collated contributions from a
total of around 30 authors. This process has taken nearly seven yr
and the text has been completely revised. The authors have
made a good job of maintaining a uniform style throughout
the text.
The book is organized into nine sections; Basic principles,
Neurologic system, Circulatory system, Pulmonary system,
Blood and Hemostasis, Gastrointestinal and metabolism, Endo-
crine system, Miscellaneous (antibiotics, chemotherapy, psycho-
pharmacology) and special populations (Newborn, maternal/
fetal, elderly and resuscitation).
Each section deals with both the physiology and the pharma-
cology. For example, the Circulatory system has 10 chapters of
which four are physiology (circulatory, cardiac, renal and uids
and electrolytes) and six are on pharmacology (Sympathomi-
metics, sympatholytics, vasodilators, antiarrhythmics, diuretics
and lipid lowering drugs). Each chapter is 2040 pages long and
presents a logical structured approach to the subject. There
The most interesting parts for me were the discussion of
human factors that lead to mishap and the psychological meth-
ods available to counteract them. Techniques such as practicing
a step back during a non-stressful event in order to use it in a
stressful situation I found thought provoking. The nal chapter
draws the book together nicely with tips to avoid human error
and is arguably the best chapter.
The authors are right to say that this is a new concept for a
textbook. Sometimes interesting with historical nuggets like
the origin of the Armitage formula and lack of evidence for it,
sometimes stimulating with application of psychological techni-
ques to combat error and occasionally entertaining with some
larger than life characters in the clinical vignettes.
Where does this book t in? This is not the book for the
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exam candidate in search of fast facts. For the Novice wanting a
readable overview of anaesthetic mishap or indeed for the ex-
perienced clinician wanting CPD and a reside read, this book
has a place.
M. F. Dowling
Nottingham, UK
E-mail: myles.dowling@nuh.nhs.uk
doi:10.1093/bja/aev265
are many useful tables and gures throughout then text. Each
chapter nishes with a comprehensive reference list, up to 300
references in some cases, which comprise both older classic
references and recent research papers.
The textbook includes an interactive ebook which allows
download of content, a search tool, cross-linking of text and
reference tabbing.
When reviewing a text book, I nd it useful to select a number
of random topics covering a range of material and read through
them. All of the items I examined were dealt with clearly and
comprehensively.
I have a few minor criticisms. I feel that each chapter would
have benetted from an opening table of contents/ subjects to
be covered in the subsequent text. The indexing system has a
separate drug listing and subject listing. Thus, if you are looking
for information on a drug, say etomidate or dexamethasone,
these do not appear in the subject index but in the drug listing,
where they have a list of page numbers but no indication of the
context.
Overall, I found this to be a useful and comprehensive text
book which provides very detailed information in a very readable
form. The previous editions of this textbook have become well
 Book reviews | 483

established favourites and I see no reason why this edition will C. Reilly
not continue this sequence. I recommend this as a useful and Shefeld, UK
comprehensive textbook for those preparing for postgraduate ex- E-mail: c.s.reilly@shefeld.ac.uk
aminations and also as a clinical and teaching resource.

doi:10.1093/bja/aev266

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