Book reviews

Cancer-Related Bone Pain

A. Davies (Ed.)

Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-

921573-7, 126 pp., Price £5.99

This publication is one of a series from

the Oxford Pain Management Library.

It is aimed at all healthcare professionals

involved in the management of patients

with cancer-related bone pain, includ-

ing anaesthetists.

It is a pocket-sized book comprising

112 pages divided into 10 chapters, each

of which has been written by a different

author or authors. The chapters are

clearly subdivided allowing for easy

reference, and the written text supple-

mented by plentiful diagrams, X-rays

and tables. Each chapter refers fre-

quently to research evidence and is

clearly referenced.

The first two chapters comprise suc-

cinct descriptions of the anatomy and

physiology of bone, and the epidemi-

ology and pathophysiology of cancer-

induced bone pain. Knowledge of the

latter has greatly improved with new

animal models. The third chapter pro-

vides an introduction to the clinical

features and the fourth gives clear

guidance regarding basic principles of

management. These would be useful as

an introduction to the subject for a

trainee in pain management. The same

applies to the sixth chapter which deals

with conventional analgesics used to

treat bone pain. Throughout the book

there are discussions about break-

through pain which remains a difficult

management problem.

There are useful chapters about

radiological investigation of cancer-

related bone pain, and management

using bisphosphonates, radiotherapy

and the role and scope of orthopaedic

intervention.

The chapter on anaesthetic and

interventional techniques begins with

an explanation of the mechanisms of,

and types of drugs used in, neuraxial

drug delivery. There are also sections

about epidural steroid injections, and

local anaesthetic and neurolytic nerve

blocks. Finally there is an introduction

to techniques such as percutaneous

vertebral cementoplasty and direct

tumour ablation which are often per-

formed by radiologists. Suggestions are

given for further reading. Whilst parts

of this chapter are insufficiently de-

tailed for a pain management trainee,

it does give a useful overview and

summary of the current research

evidence.

One criticism that could be made of

this book is that, whilst it is strongly

evidence-based, it is at times weak on

the practical application of this evi-

dence. Guidance on when and how to

use bisphosphonates, for example, could

have been clearer.

The above reservations aside, how-

ever, we would recommend this book to

any pain management clinician involved

with cancer patients for the broad range

of evidence-based information that it

covers and for ease of reference.

Karen Gilmore

Staff Grade in Palliative Medicine

Mark Taylor

Consultant in Anaesthesia & Pain

ManagementDerriford Hospital

Plymouth

PL6 8DH, UK

E-mail: karen.gilmore@phnt.swest.nhs.uk

Textbook of RegionalAnesthesia and Acute PainManagement

A. Hadzic

The McGraw Hill Company, December

2006, ISBN 978-0-07-144906-9, 1259 pp.,

Price £100.00; US$200.00

This textbook comes from the well-

established �New York School of Regional

Anesthesia�. Now, claiming to be the

first reference textbook for regional

anaesthesia (RA), its colourful layout

and extensive illustrations provide a

comprehensive coverage of all aspects

related to regional anesthesia. The con-

tributors come from all over the world

and show a wealth of experience in

their respective chapters. The book is

presented as parts that are divided into

sections, which in turn contain chap-

ters. Layout is very impressive with each

part having colour-coded pages, each

chapter beginning with a content box

and the text containing colour-coded

tabular columns that reminds the reader

of an undergraduate textbook. The vital

aspects of nerve blocks and local anaes-

thetics are frequently tabulated for quick

reference. �Clinical pearls�, boxes that

contain a clinical tip relevant to the

topic, are a good aide-memoire.There

are 14 parts with 83 chapters in total.

Like most anaesthesia textbooks it starts

with notes on �history of local anaes-

thesia�, followed by �foundations of

regional anaesthesia� which contain sec-

tions on anatomy including embryology

and histology, and pharmacology. The

latter covers, in addition to the routine,

a chapter on analgesic adjuvants and

sedation for regional anaesthesia. The

authors are to be praised for the ample

anatomical dissection pictures, which

greatly help to visualise complex peri-

neural relationships.

Part three is the core of the book,

which caters to the actual �clinical

practice of regional anaesthesia�, and

covers all the possible central and

peripheral nerve blocks that are per-

formed. In addition, it has chapters on

local anaesthesia for tracheal intubation,

local and RA for eye surgery, oral and

maxillofacial RA and intravenous re-

gional anaesthesia. A chapter on motor

responses and dermatomes helps to

correlate the relationship between

nerves blocked and dermatomes anaes-

thetised. For each block there are

colour sketch diagrams, followed by

photographs with morphing to show

underlying anatomy, photographs

showing surface anatomy, some show-

ing the actual technique and further

Anaesthesia, 2008, 63, pages 1274–1275.....................................................................................................................................................................................................................

� 2008 The Authors

1274 Journal compilation � 2008 The Association of Anaesthetists of Great Britain and Ireland