This book is devoted to the acute problems of the elderly. Recognizing the shift toward an aging population, the editors intend to better equip practitioners dealing with these patients. The geriatrician, internist, or intensivist treating the elderly patient is an appropriate audience for this work. Practitioners in multidisciplinary intensive care units may also benefit. The majority of authors are Los Angeles-based with association to UCLA and King-Drew medical centers. Four parts and 25 chapters are included in the 500 pages of this hardbound text. General content includes issues specific to treating the geriatric patient, especially basic drug dosing and nursing care. Surgical emergencies constitute the second group of chapters with general comments on anesthesia management, trauma, and abdominal and vascular problems. Medical emergencies are included in the third cluster of chapters while a in a fourth group of chapters issues specific to aging are addressed, including elder abuse and neglect. Chapters are written in a consistent outline form and ample use is made of black-and-white line drawings and tables, which reproduce well. Reference quantity with individual chapters is inconsistent but most references date to at least two to three years from the time of publication. References cited tend to represent original work. In the table of contents chapters are grouped as described above and contributors' names are listed. A detailed subject index of 30 pages concludes the book. This book fills an important niche as we come to grips with our aging society. Organization is insightful with early emphasis on factors which make the relationship between practitioner andpatient unique in the geriatric population. At times, however, physiologic descriptions of disease are dated and proposed treatment strategies incomplete. Still, the impact of these limitations is insufficient to diminish my interest in this book.
"...clearly written and didactically well presented. "...recommended to all geriatricians."
Clinicians and researchers, many from the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles, focus on approaches to diagnosing and treating the most commonly encountered medical and surgical acute emergencies and life-threatening conditions in elderly people. They also, however, consider such topics as prescribing drugs for critically ill patients and adverse life-threatening drug reactions, elder abuse, ethics, and nursing care of the critically ill elderly. Covering principles of geriatric critical care, surgical and medical emergencies, and special issues of aging, they detail the relevance of aging issues in the emergency department, emergency anesthesia, hip fracture patients, hypertensive crises, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, acute vision impairment or loss, hypothermia and hyperthermia, and other aspects. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)
"
...four sections that cover the basic principle of critical care, topics related to surgical emergencies and medical emergencies, and special issues. A strength of the book is that each of its 25 chapters can serve as a stand-alone reference for rapid review. Yet the text flows nicely from chapter to chapter, making it easy to garner a comprehensive survey of this area of medicine.
...an excellent resource for those who care for the elderly in acute care settings.
"- The New England Journal of Medicine, 2000
"…clearly written and didactically well presented.
…recommended to all geriatricians.
"-Gerontology
Reviewer: David James Dries, MSE, MD (Regions Hospital)
Description: This book is devoted to the acute problems of the elderly.
Purpose: Recognizing the shift toward an aging population, the editors intend to better equip practitioners dealing with these patients.
Audience: The geriatrician, internist, or intensivist treating the elderly patient is an appropriate audience for this work. Practitioners in multidisciplinary intensive care units may also benefit. The majority of authors are Los Angeles-based with association to UCLA and King-Drew medical centers.
Features: Four parts and 25 chapters are included in the 500 pages of this hardbound text. General content includes issues specific to treating the geriatric patient, especially basic drug dosing and nursing care. Surgical emergencies constitute the second group of chapters with general comments on anesthesia management, trauma, and abdominal and vascular problems. Medical emergencies are included in the third cluster of chapters while a in a fourth group of chapters issues specific to aging are addressed, including elder abuse and neglect. Chapters are written in a consistent outline form and ample use is made of black-and-white line drawings and tables, which reproduce well. Reference quantity with individual chapters is inconsistent but most references date to at least two to three years from the time of publication. References cited tend to represent original work. In the table of contents chapters are grouped as described above and contributors' names are listed. A detailed subject index of 30 pages concludes the book.
Assessment: This book fills an important niche as we come to grips with our aging society. Organization is insightful with early emphasis on factors which make the relationship between practitioner and patient unique in the geriatric population. At times, however, physiologic descriptions of disease are dated and proposed treatment strategies incomplete. Still, the impact of these limitations is insufficient to diminish my interest in this book.
