Critical Care Handbook of the Massachusetts General Hospital

am not really a fan of medical books in general. I usually fi nd them outdated and boring. Th e speed of scientifi c advances and of dissemination of knowledge via modern electronic communication tools does not fi t into the tradi tional process for a book. Not rarely, information delivered in medical textbooks is contradicted by the continuous release of new data. Likewise, the endless gain in scientifi c knowledge is incompatible with the classical book format. Textbooks then either focused on too highly specifi c topics or poorly summarised the current medical knowledge. So when I was invited to review this handbook I thought it would be a painful experience. I started reading the book just after boarding a Paris to Los Angeles fl ight. I could not stop reading it, and when I turned off the seat light we were landing in Los Angeles. Let me tell you why Luca Bigatello and colleagues' hand book renewed my appetite for this type of medical literature. First, it really is a handbook – the size is perfect, the weight is perfect and you can carry it wherever you go. Th e fl exible cover is very practical and makes it easy to handle at the patient's bedside. When one opens the book, the fi rst sentence on the third cover page – 'to our patients' – makes it clear that the authors' primary and ultimate goal is to improve the quality of care for the critically ill. Th is book is thus intended for trainees as well as for established intensive care unit physicians. Amazingly when reading it I realised that we will always be trainees. In 44 chapters, the editors cover the essentials of critical care medicine. Bigatello has gathered a panel of co-editors with expertise in diff erent areas, thereby ensuring accuracy while dealing with a broad spectrum of critical illnesses. Th e fi rst part of the book provides the readers with an accurate and concise appraisal of the basic principles of human physiology on which the whole critical care approach is based. Beyond physiological considerations, the readers will fi nd evidence-based management strategies for the most common critical illnesses and for more specifi c problems such as obstetrical care or morbid obesity. Finally, the editors have included in this fi fth edition a chapter on the role of intensive care unit physicians beyond the intensive …