A case-based interactive approach
By Sherif Emil
First Edition
Published by CRC Press in September 2019
ISBN 978-1-4987-1033-6
Price £125
I have not come over that many paediatric surgery books becoming available or newly launched and considering that it is an important discipline; this is maybe a little surprising. So, I looked forwards to reviewing this book on paediatric surgery and I was impressed by what I found. Looking at the spelling of the title, you could correctly guess that this book originates from North America and in fact the main author and contributors are based in Canada. Even so, there is plenty here to grab the interest of a global readership. I always think it is useful to read the preface of the book and I found it most interesting and gives a good idea on the nature, structure and ethos of the book.
The preface explains how the book came into being and the lay out and presentation of the subject matter which works very well. Each chapter starts with a case history with questions and supplied answers. The answers are beneath the questions, so there is no fishing around in another part of the book to find the answers. This I find a big bonus and makes sense.
There is then a good discussion about points raised in the case history and a general review of the topic that is relatively short, readable and practical; this follows the case history. The book is beautifully produced with plenty of images of relevant clinical and pathological states. At the end of each chapter, there is a list of suggested reading. Each chapter with a case history is reasonably short and easy to read in a relatively brief period of time. The book is well presented and is an excellent method of learning and advancing a reader’s education in paediatric surgery.
We all like case histories and this takes a good case history and expands on it in a readable and interesting manner. Even more impressive, is that there is only one main author and three contributors who are all clearly enthusiastic as well as knowledgeable about their subject. Common and less common topic areas are discussed and whilst there is a good discussion about the surgical procedure, non-surgeons with an interest in paediatrics will find this book helpful and relevant. I don’t think this is ideal for primary care as it is too detailed but would be significant to someone with a big interest in paediatrics in both the surgical (obviously) and medical aspects. If there is one drawback; there is no detailed index in the book, I hope this can be remedied in future editions, as this book definitely has deserved the right to appear in a future edition.
Like all good modern medical textbooks, this book comes bundled with a web and app version. Access to this is generated by rubbing off a panel on the inner front cover. This does generate a rather long code which is popped into a website and access is easily obtained.
Overall this is a really good book which adopts a very user friendly way of bringing the information to the reader. It is well written and well illustrated and for those people who desire a high quality and relevant paediatric surgery book then this is well worth looking at.
Dr Harry Brown
January 2020
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