Fleisher: Evidence-Based Practice of Anesthesiology 2nd Edition (Expert Consult Series)

It has been 5 years since the publication of the first edition of Evidence-Based Practice of Anesthesiology. I am indeed fortunate to collaborate with my publisher at Elsevier, Natasha Andjelkovic, who, when I initially proposed this idea to Elsevier, had the foresight to recognize that this approach to the practice of medicine had become critical with respect to clinical care and education. I was extremely pleased that many practitioners, especially residents, found useful the approach taken to critical questions in the first edition. In editing the second edition, I maintained the approach and format of the earlier edition and updated important topics with ongoing controversy and added many new topics for which there is increasing evidence on how best to practice. It is my hope that the field of anesthesiology and perioperative medicine will continue to grow with increasing high-quality investigations, particularly randomized trials, to expand our evidence base and help practitioners provide the highest quality of care.

I am indebted to several people who were critical in the publication of the second edition of Evidence-Based Practice of Anesthesiology. I would like to particularly acknowledge my executive assistant, Eileen O'Shaughnessy, who kept the authors and myself on track and assisted with the editing of many chapters. In addition to my publisher, I would also like to thank Marla Sussman, our developmental editor. I hope this book will provide the answers to many of your daily anesthesia questions.

-- Lee A. Fleisher, MD

Key Features

• Explores key topics such as preoperative preparation, perioperative management, regional anesthesia, monitoring, cardiovascular anesthesia, neurosurgical anesthesia, obstetrical anesthesia, pediatric anesthesia, and pain.
• Uses a practical, consistent format in each chapter, providing: 
• an overview of the question under discussion 
• an outline of the available management options 
• a review of the relevant evidence 
• identification of areas of uncertainty 
• a summary of existing management guidelines 
• the author's recommendations.
• Provides tables that summarize the available literature as well as the recommended clinical approaches at a glance.
• Covers routine care as well as complicated and special situations to prepare you for a full range of challenges.

Website Features

• Consult the book from any computer at home, in your office, or at any practice location.
• Instantly locate the answers to your clinical questions via a simple search query.
• Quickly find out more about any bibliographical citation by linking to its MEDLINE abstract.

Contents 

Section I - Introduction

• Chapter 1 - Evidence-Based Practice Parameters—The American Society of Anesthesiologists Approach

Section II - Preoperative Preparation

• Chapter 2 - Does Routine Testing Affect Outcome?
• Chapter 3 - Is a Preoperative Screening Clinic Cost-Effective?
• Chapter 4 - Who Should Have a Preoperative 12-Lead Electrocardiogram?
• Chapter 5 - Should Preoperative Hemoglobin Always Be Obtained?
• Chapter 6 - Is Routine Preoperative Pregnancy Testing Necessary?
• Chapter 7 - What Are the Risk Factors for Perioperative Stroke?
• Chapter 8 - Should We Delay Surgery in the Patient with Recent Cocaine Use?
• Chapter 9 - Should All Antihypertensive Agents Be Continued before Surgery?
• Chapter 10 - Is There an Optimal Timing for Smoking Cessation?
• Chapter 11 - Should Patients with Asthma Be Given Preoperative Medications Including Steroids?
• Chapter 12 - Which Patient Should Have a Preoperative Cardiac Evaluation (Stress Test)?
• Chapter 13 - Should Patients with Stable Coronary Artery Disease Undergo Prophylactic Revascularization before Noncardiac Surgery?
• Chapter 14 - How Long Should You Wait after Percutaneous Coronary Intervention for Noncardiac Surgery?
• Chapter 15 - How Should We Prepare the Patient with a Pacemaker/Implantable Cardioverter-Defibrillator?
• Chapter 16 - When Should Pulmonary Function Tests Be Performed Preoperatively?

Section III - Perioperative Management

• Chapter 17 - Does the Airway Examination Predict Difficult Intubation?
• Chapter 18 - Should Regional or General Anesthesia Be Used for Cases in Which the Patient Has an Anticipated Difficult Airway?
• Chapter 19 - Is There a Best Approach to Induction of Anesthesia in Emergent Situations?
• Chapter 20 - Do Inhalational Agents Have Beneficial or Harmful Effects?
• Chapter 21 - Is One General Anesthetic Technique Associated with Faster Recovery?
• Chapter 22 - Does the Choice of Muscle Relaxant Affect Outcome?
• Chapter 23 - Does Anesthetic Choice Affect Surgical and Recovery Times?
• Chapter 24 - What Are the Benefits of Different Ventilatory Techniques?
• Chapter 25 - Is There an Optimal Perioperative Hemoglobin?
• Chapter 26 - When Are Platelet/Plasma Transfusions Indicated?
• Chapter 27 - What Drugs Decrease Postoperative Bleeding?
• Chapter 28 - Does Perioperative Hyperglycemia Increase Risk? Should We Have Aggressive Glucose Control Perioperatively?
• Chapter 29 - When Should Perioperative Glucocorticoid Replacement Be Administered?
• Chapter 30 - Does the Choice of Fluid Matter in Major Surgery?
• Chapter 31 - What Works in a Patient with Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome?
• Chapter 32 - What Actions Can Be Used to Prevent Peripheral Nerve Injury?
• Chapter 33 - When Is Forced-Air Warming Cost-Effective?
• Chapter 34 - What Is the Best Means of Preventing Perioperative Renal Injury?
• Chapter 35 - Are Alpha-2 Agonists Effective in Reducing Perioperative Cardiac Complications in Noncardiac Surgery?
• Chapter 36 - Which Are the Best Techniques for Reducing the Incidence of Postoperative Deep Vein Thrombosis?
• Chapter 37 - What Is the Optimal Perioperative Management for Latex Allergy?
• Chapter 38 - Are There Special Techniques in Obese Patients?
• Chapter 39 - Is There an Ideal Approach to the Malignant Hyperthermia–Susceptible Patient?
• Chapter 40 - What Is the Best Strategy to Prevent Postoperative Nausea and Vomiting?
• Chapter 41 - How Can We Prevent Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction?
• Chapter 42 - Do Intensive Care Specialists Improve Patient Outcomes?
• Chapter 43 - Can We Prevent Recall during Anesthesia?
• Chapter 44 - What Is the Best Technique in the Patient with an Open Globe and Full Stomach?
• Chapter 45 - Are Patients with Sleep Apnea Appropriate for Ambulatory Surgery?
• Chapter 46 - What Criteria Should Be Used for Discharge after Outpatient Surgery?
• Chapter 47 - What Must I Consider to Safely Anesthetize Someone in the Office Setting?
• Chapter 48 - Should Propofol Be Given by Nonanesthesia Providers?
• Chapter 49 - Aspiration: Is There an Optimal Management Strategy?

Section IV - Regional Anesthesia

• Chapter 50 - Nonsteroidal Antiinflammatory Drugs, Antiplatelet Medications, and Spinal Axis Anesthesia
• Chapter 51 - The Best Approaches to Prophylaxis against DVT Formation When Using a Combination of Neuraxial Anesthesia and One of the Heparins
• Chapter 52 - Is Regional Anesthesia Appropriate for Outpatient Surgery?
• Chapter 53 - Is Regional Anesthesia Superior to General Anesthesia for Hip Surgery?
• Chapter 54 - Does Intraoperative Regional Anesthesia Decrease Perioperative Blood Loss?
• Chapter 55 - What Is the Optimal Management of Post–Dural Puncture Headache?
• Chapter 56 - Should Ultrasound Guidance Be Used for Peripheral Nerve Blockade?

Section V - Monitoring

• Chapter 57 - Does a Pulmonary Artery Catheter Influence Outcome in Noncardiac Surgery?
• Chapter 58 - What Is the Best Method of Diagnosing Perioperative Myocardial Infarction?
• Chapter 59 - Does Neurologic Electrophysiologic Monitoring Affect Outcome?

Section VI - Cardiovascular Anesthesia

• Chapter 60 - Is Regional Superior to General Anesthesia for Infrainguinal Revascularization?
• Chapter 61 - Evidence-Based Practice for Fast-Track Cardiac Anesthesia—Is It Safe?
• Chapter 62 - Is There a Best Technique to Decrease Blood Loss and Transfusion after Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting?
• Chapter 63 - Should Thoracic Epidural/Spinal Analgesia Be Used for CABG?

Section VII - Neurosurgical Anesthesia

• Chapter 64 - Is There a Best Technique in the Patient with Increased Intracranial Pressure?
• Chapter 65 - What Works for Brain Protection?

Section VIII - Obstetric Anesthesia

• Chapter 66 - Anesthesia for Cesarean Delivery—Regional or General?
• Chapter 67 - When Should a Combined Spinal-Epidural (CSE) Be Used?
• Chapter 68 - Does Labor Analgesia Affect Labor Outcome?
• Chapter 69 - Does Anesthesia Increase the Risk to the Parturient Undergoing Nonobstetric Surgery?

Section IX - Pediatric Anesthesia

• Chapter 70 - How Young Is the Youngest Infant for Outpatient Surgery?
• Chapter 71 - Should a Child with a Respiratory Tract Infection Undergo Elective Surgery?

Section X - Pain Management

• Chapter 72 - Optimal Postoperative Analgesia
• Chapter 73 - Is Preemptive Analgesia Clinically Effective?

About the Author

• Lee A. Fleisher, MD, Robert Dunning Dripps Professor and Chair, Department of Anesthesiology, Professor of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

Book Review

"This book is just what I want to read, and it appears just when I want to read it. When I look at the outline of questions and topics that Dr. Fleisher chose to present, it is obvious that those are the very questions I want answered; at least one of those questions seems to nag at me every day. Rather than just presenting the reader with a problem and laying out the evidence, then leaving the reader in a dilemma of having to make the choice, the authors state the actions they would take and explain why. This in no way restricts the readers, however; it just gives them an idea of what the experts in the field would do in a given situation. It is clear that Dr. Fleisher selected the authors carefully to have a balanced presentation by the experts in their fields. He did an outstanding job of editing this book (I am, of course, biased because he is my coeditor on Essence of Anesthesia Practice, and I know the great work he did on that book).

An example of why I think this is such an outstanding work is the chapter “Should a Child with Respiratory Tract Infection Undergo Elective Surgery?” Drs. Easley and Maxwell not only introduce the problem but also give the evidence that proceeding immediately with surgery increases risk. They present the evidence that delaying surgery may decrease risk, and, rather than leave the reader in the lurch, conclude that they would delay surgery for 2 to 4 weeks in patients with upper respiratory infection and symptoms and for 4 to 6 weeks in those with acute lower respiratory infection. They state clearly that this is their opinion and that the existing evidence is not conclusive enough to be definitive. They then offer the references if one wants to pursue the question in greater detail.

This book is a great educational tool for the private practitioner who wants to know what the experts in the field would do in a given situation. It is also a great book for the resident and faculty member who can learn how to handle a wide range of important issues, such as how to handle perioperative hypothermia, whether the choice of muscle relaxant affects outcome, what to do to prevent peripheral nerve injuries, or whether patients with obstructive sleep apnea should be admitted to the ICU.

I intend to buy two copies of this book—one to keep at home and use to prepare for the next day, and one to keep at work. I plan on relying heavily on this book for teaching in the operating room. I think it is a superb addition to our educational armamentarium and hope you enjoy it as much as I did."

-- Michael F. Roizen, MD

Product Details

• Paperback: 544 pages
• Publisher: Saunders; 2nd edition (March 9, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416059962
• ISBN-13: 978-1416059967
• Product Dimensions: 10.8 x 8.4 x 1 inches

List Price: $99.95