Field of medicine: Critical care medicine.

Format: Softcover book.

Audience: Practitioners and trainees in critical care medicine, surgeons, obstetricians, gynecologists, and general internists.

Purpose: To elucidate the principles of adult intensive care.

Content: After a brief discussion of pertinent physiology, cardiopulmonary critical care and fluid management are the focus of this book. Other topics include respiratory failure and the use of mechanical ventilation. Smaller sections cover the infectious, neurologic, and nutritional aspects of critical care medicine.

Highlights: Clear discussions of hemodynamic and fluid management are the highlight of this book. These chapters have been rewritten and updated since the first edition of the book was published in 1990.

Limitations: Hepatic and renal dysfunction, as well as hematologic disorders (such as disseminated intravascular coagulation), receive limited coverage.

Related reading: The ICU Book is one of several well-written softcover books describing the essential aspects of cardiopulmonary critical care. Recent books of this kind include Critical Care Medicine: The Essentials, 2nd edition, by Marini and Wheeler (Williams & Wilkins, 1997), and Intensive Care: A Concise Textbook, 2nd edition, by Hinds and Watson (WB Saunders, 1996). All of these texts are well written, but The ICU Book is the most current and, because of its opening review of physiology and because it is a single-author text, the most user friendly.

Reviewer: David J. Dries, MSE, MD, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan.