Essential anesthesia. From science to practice

and colleagues of other specialties who are interested by the world of anesthesiology. Th e authors have designed a 199-page book that aims to facilitate understanding of anesthesia and its principles by nonspecialists using a brief and concise approach. Very well written and using a simple and clear style, this book off ers a concrete and pragmatic approach to applied physiology and pharmacology and perioperative medicine. Essential Anesthesia includes an introduction followed by three main sections. After a brief summary of the history of anesthesia, the reader is immediately introduced to the main objective of anesthesia: to minimize the risk and improve safety for patients. Th is objective is clearly the clue to the diff erent chapters presented in the book. Th e fi rst section, ‘Clinical Management’, includes eight chapters that review the major fi elds of anesthesia, beginning with the preoperative evaluation of patients, continuing with the management of the airway, vascular access and the diff erent techniques for general and regional anesthesia, and ending with postoperative care. Th is section nicely introduces monitoring of patients during anes thesia, emphasizing that clinical monitoring should remain the most important. In the last chapter, an overview of the diff erent available anesthesia machines is proposed through a step-by-step approach of the concepts on which these machines are based. Th e second section, ‘Applied Physiology and Pharmacology’, is a concise and clear review of applied physiology and pharmacology related to anesthesia. A specifi c chapter is dedicated to the cardiovascular system and another to the lungs, while a third chapter looks at the other systems – mainly the brain, the stomach, the liver, the kidneys and the blood. Th e last chapter of this section deals with pharmacology, reviewing the diff erent drugs typically used in anesthesia, without forgetting to discuss briefl y the diff erent theories of anesthesia; that is, the theories possibly explaining the phenomenon of induced coma. Th e fi nal section, ‘Clinical Cases’, features some real-life situations presented as clinical cases. Using the same brief and pragmatic style, the authors illustrate anesthetic care provided before, during and after surgery through 11 diff erent but common surgical procedures. Fully informative, easy to read, well structured and including learning objectives, these diff erent clinical cases paint a true picture of daily anesthesia practice with its constraints related to the patient, the environment, and the surgical stress. Proposed solutions to problems encountered are based on applied physiology and pharmacological principles developed before. In conclusion, Essential Anesthesia is an excellent introduction to anesthesia for nonspecialists, with a refi ned style and pragmatic approach that allows easy reading and assimilation. Th e lack of references at the end of each chapter, which would have enabled the reader deeper under standing, represents the only weakness of this book that is essen tial to all nonanesthesiologists interested in the fi eld of anesthesia.