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Book Reviews Indian Pediatrics 2005; 42:860-862 |
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Guha’s Neonatology: Principles and Practice |
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Guha’s Neonatology: Principles and Practice is a well-written book published in 2 volumes. This book with its 92 chapters in 11 sections and 58 appendices had aptly covered the basic needs of all the neonatologists, pediatricians, practicing physicians, medical students, postgraduates, nurses and also the administrators interested in care of the newborn. The Indian touch given to the management of neonatal illness in many of the chapters is commendable. The section of perspectives of neonatology in India describes the historical aspect of neonatal care in this country and highlights the current status and future perspectives of newborn care. The emphasis is on community care of newborns, priority in improving outcomes of normal birth weight neonates, preventive care, improved under-graduate and postgraduate curriculum, cost effective innovations and regionalisation of neonatal care. Simultaneous developments in level III neonatal care and its spillover effect on the community care were well communicated. This section is most useful for postgraduates in pediatrics and also for planner and administrators involved in improving perinatal outcomes in developing countries. The section on basic neonatal information is most useful for all academic institutions and also for planner. The definitions of neonatal morbidities and uniformity of causes of death would increase the credibility of data collection and research work. NNPD 2000 data would help researcher in formulating thesis and study protocols. Chapters in section 3 would facilitate establishment of neonatal intensive care units and also improve the community care. The chapters "organization of NICU", "equipment procurement and maintenance" would be of immense use to the practicing pediatricians and neonatologists. Chapters on maternal and fetal medicine and those on the fetal patient care have given completeness to a book like this, on neonatology. The chapters in section 6 would be most useful to the undergraduates and for the beginners in neonatology. Finally, chapters in neonatal practices are well written including both basics and recent advances. Inclusion of case records as in "Neonatal Hematology and Oncology" flow diagrams, figures, charts and tables, appropriate font size and quality of paper are added attractions of this book. The appendices are most useful and a copy of them should form a part of all neonatal units. Chapters such as basic concepts in research, procedures in neonatology, drugs in pregnancy and newborn drug therapy have widened the scope of this book. A few suggestions for further improvement are that each volume should have a complete index, repetitions should be avoided (neonatal resuscitation, feeding practices, treatment of hypoglycemia, etc. repeated in several chapters), more chapters on neonatal practices should include case records and further editions must incorporate evidence-based practices at the end of each chapter. Overall this is an excellent edition and would become a much-cherished book on neonatology and newborn care in India. M. Indra Shekhar Rao,
This manual is a comprehensive , descriptive, diagnostic and therapeutic approach to various neonatal problems ,written in a clear and user friendly style. The 80 contributors to 62 chapters have penned the neonatal problems faced by a practitioner, neonatal pediatricians and post graduates in pediatrics with a sound basis for current aspects of neonatal care. The manual has 5 sections dealing with various problems. Section 1 consists of essential neonatology in 10 chapters and details problems of normal newborn, thermoregulation, feeding and follow up of NICU graduates etc. Section 2 contains 15 chapters on acute neonatology including inborn errors of metabolism, shock, metabolic problems, asphyxia and sepsis etc. Most chapters have algorithms for management of problems and will serve easy reference to busy young resident/practicing doctor. Section 3 deals in various problems in NICU in 16 chapters which include neonatal monitoring, ventilation, parentral nutrition, bleeding, acute renal failure and use of component therapy etc. Chapter 4 describes various perinatal infections including aids, they all give clinical presentation, diagnosis and management protocols. Chapter 5 has miscellaneous,but important topics like neonatal transport, retinopathy of prematurity, metabolic bone disease and guidelines for establishing level 2 and 3 NICU's. The authors must be congratulated for getting contribution from so many authors and compiling the manual. However, the manual though written all by Indian authors lacks the personal or Indian experience in most of the topics discussed as also references of Indian studies. Intrauterine growth CURVES OF Indian neonates do not find mention which I feel should have been given in detail and is helpful in applying risk approach. Assessment of gestation of newborns too has been omitted. The manual will be useful to young practioners, postgraduates and resident in pediatrics Sudarshan Kumari,
The book covers the basic concepts of Pediatric Intensive care in an easy to understand format and would be helpful to pediatric residents and those pediatricians who start working in the PICU for the first time. This book is a welcome addition to the texts available on the subject. All the major clinical conditions encountered in the medical PICU have been included and arranged in a systematic manner. The first section covers topics like indication of admission to PICU, followed by cardiopulmonary resuscitation and all the subjects dealing with management of critically ill child. It is an effort to systematic approach to management rather than care of individual systemic diseases. The approach throughout is clinical and simplified for practical use. Unnecessary theory has been omitted; however aspects which are important for clinical evaluation and management are adequately covered, such as pathophysiology of respiratory failure. A chapter on mechanical ventilation will help the residents and also pediatricians who are starting intensive care unit to understand the basics of ventilation. The language used is very simple. Frequent use of tables and flow charts make reading very simple and quick to grasp. This compact volume gives concise information and covers all aspects of Pediatrics Intensive Care. The reader should find the selection on ICU procedures with diagrams very helpful. Although there is no chapter on common poisonings and management but overall management principles remain the same, which are beautifully covered in chapters like approach to a comatose child. In the appendix there is a chapter on troubleshooting on ventilators, which will be very useful for the pediatricians and residents dealing with ventilated patients. In addition the manual also covers subjects such as outcome, ethical issues and transport of critically ill child. Sections on nursing care, sedation, analgesia and special procedures provide the residents with useful practical information. The manual with its large font size, simple line diagrams and easy flowing text makes it a very readable book. It is strongly recommended for residents, consult-ants and nurses managing critically ill children. Daljit Singh,
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