Table of Contents

GENERAL & MEDICOLEGAL CONSIDERATIONS : Anesthesia, Perioperative Mortality & Predictors of Adverse Outcomes / Evaluation of Anesthetic Risk / Quality Assurance & Risk Management / Medicine & Law: When Two Worlds Collide
PERIOPERATIVE CLINICAL
Respiratory : Respiratory Complications Overview / The Difficult Airway / Safety & Hazards Associated with Tracheal Intubation & Use of Supralaryngeal Airways / Hypoxemia & Hypercapnia / Bronchospasm / Aspiration Pneumonitis (Includes ARDS) / Pneumothorax & Barotrauma / Pulmonary Edema (Cardiogenic, Noncardiogenic, Neurogenic & Postobstructive) / Pulmonary Embolism (Clots, Gas, Debris, Fat)
Cardiovascular : Epidemiology & Predictors / Myocardial Ischemia & Infarction (Including Stents) / Congestive Heart Failure / Acute Pulmonary Hypertension & Right Heart Failure / Cardiac Dysrhythmias / Hypotension & Shock States (Including Deliberate Hypotension) / Hypertension / Cardiac Arrest
Neurologic : Increased Intracranial Pressure / Seizures / Perioperative Stroke / Coma & Delayed Emergence / Intraoperative Awareness & Recall / Postoperative Cognitive Dysfunction / Spinal Cord Injury / Ophthalmologic
Renal Dysfunction & Disorders of Fluid & Electrolytes : Oliguria / Acute Perioperative Kidney Injury / Sodium, Potassium & Magnesium / TURP Syndrome
Hematologic & Hemostatic : Acute Anemia / Transfusion Reactions / Bleeding Complications, Including Thrombocytopenia, DIC, Anticoagulation (the patient receiving drugs that impair coagulation: heparin, warfarin, antiplatelets, gII-IIIb inhibitors, thrombin inhibitors, fibrinolytic agents) / Sickle Cell Abnormalities, Hemolysis & Acute Porphyria / The Hypercoagulable Patient
Gastrointestinal : Postoperative Nausea & Vomiting / Abdominal Compartment Syndrome / Acute Liver Dysfunction
Endocrine: Acute Hyperglycemia & Hypoglycemia (Including Diabetes Mellitus) / Acute Adrenal Dysfunction (Hypoadrenalism & Pheochromocytoma-Related Complications) / Morbid Obesity
Disorders of Temperature Regulation : Unintentional Perioperative Hypothermia / Hyperthermia
Obstetric : Labor & Delivery / Cesarean Section / Preeclampsia, Eclampsia & HELLP Syndrome
Immunological & Infectious : Acute Anaphylaxis & Anaphylactoid Reactions / Viral Infections (Including: To & From the Anesthesiologist)
EQUIPMENT : Invasive Monitoring (Arterial, Central Venous, Pulmonary Artery Catheters, TEE) / Cardiopulmonary Bypass / Fires & Explosions (Including Airway Fires) / Shock & Electrocution / Anesthesia Machine Malfunction
ANESTHETIC TECHNIQUES : Positioning / Complications of the Sitting (Beach Chair) Position for Nonneurosurgical Operations / General Anesthetic Agents (Including Etomidate, Pentothal) / Adverse Reactions to Local Anesthetics / Neuraxial Anesthesia (Spinal, Epidural) / Injuries Associated with Nerve & Plexus Blocks / Monitored Anesthesia Care
PHARMACOLOGIC : Adverse Drug Interactions (Including Muscle Relaxants) / Herbal Remedies & Over-the-Counter Drugs
RISKS TO THE ANESTHESIOLOGIST : Bioterrorism / Sleep & Fatigue / Chemical Agents & Radiation Exposure / Substance Abuse & Addiction

Reviews

Doody's Book Review Service, 05-MAY-08, Tariq M. Malik, MD, University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine -- "This is an excellent, concise, pertinent, and clinically oriented review of complications in anesthesia. Compared to two other books (Anesthesia and Perioperative Complications, 2nd edition, Benumof and Saidman (Mosby, 1999) and Complications in Anesthesia, 2nd edition, Atlee (Elsevier, 2007), this one is much easier to read and is more up to date. If I have to buy a book on this topic, it has to be this one."-Doody's Book Review Service (Weighted Numerical Score: 96; 4 Stars) University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine, Tariq M. Malik, MD -- This excellent, up-to-date review covers the full range of complications in anesthesiology related to different systems, equipment, and anesthetic techniques. Key points at the end of each chapter are a distinguishing feature. The last edition was published in 1996, making this update long overdue. This book is intended to familiarize anesthesiologists with complications that happen despite their best efforts. Improvements have made the practice of anesthesia so safe that we do not often see complications. This makes this topic and this book all the more relevant. The authors have successfully tackled the issue with a very readable and concise book. The audience is everyone who practices anesthesia. It will be an asset for residents who will find many of the topics covered only in passing in standard anesthesia textbooks. It will also be helpful for physicians, especially surgeons, who want some insight into potential anesthetic complications as they ask their patients to provide informed consent. The four chapters in the first of the book's six sections covers risk assessment and the all-important subject of legal aspects of complications. The second section of 47 chapters covers complications in different organ systems, including respiratory, cardiovascular, neurologic, renal, blood, gastrointestinal, endocrine, thermoregulation, obstetric, and immunologic. The third section covers machine malfunction, fires, and explosion as well as invasive monitoring complications. Section four covers complications of different anesthesia techniques, nerve injuries, and positioning. The final two sections deal with pharmacologic issues and occupational hazards for anesthesiologists. The book is well written and the chapter outline uses a problem-focused approach. The chapters are focused and well illustrated, and each one ends with a summary of take home points. It's hard to find anything wrong with this book. As the authors note in the preface, they had to make choices about what to keep in and what to leave out. As a result, there is a bit less stress on the management of complications, such as what to do once one suspects a nerve injury. There is no discussion in the chapter on medicolegal issues about how to communicate with family members once a complication occurs. The significant topic of complications in laparoscopic surgery is missing. However, these shortcomings do not take anything away from the book. This is an excellent, concise, pertinent, and clinically oriented review of complications in anesthesia. Compared to two other books (Anesthesia and Perioperative Complications, 2nd edition, Benumof and Saidman (Mosby, 1999) and Complications in Anesthesia, 2nd edition, Atlee (Elsevier, 2007), this one is much easier to read and is more up to date. If I have to buy a book on this topic, it has to be this one. Weighted Numerical Score: 96 - 4 Stars!