Another explanation for reduced meperidine consumption in the immediate postoperative period.

chapter outlines; the index occasionally fails to direct the reader to pertinent material. The self-sufficiency of the individual chapters makes this the use to which this book is best suited. The third use for such a book is to provide continuing medical education for experienced practitioners. The frequent, thorough updating and the authoritative review by a board of consulting editors make this an ideal text to supplement a program of reading in journals. Is this the only anesthesia text a serious student of the specialty needs? Probably not: comparable chapters in competing books are sometimes more successful; specialized texts offer more profound coverage of specific areas; other texts aim more directly at the needs of the new learner. Is it beyond improvement? Probably not: this reader would welcome a computer-based index, similar to that offered by Scientific American. (The text of Anesthesia occupies fewer than 15 megabytes, making a floppy-disk-based index practical.) In the future, publishing major medical texts via the CD-ROM format or some other form of electronic storage medium will allow the inclusion of search mechanisms, linking of entries, sound, and video (think of demonstrations of techniques, electrocardiograms, and echocardiograms). Nevertheless, this new edition belongs on the desk (not on the bookshelf) of everyone who is involved in anesthesia care.