Before the Scalpel

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For those professionals working with patients undergoing anesthesia, the process may be routine. For the patient and loved ones preparing for a surgical procedure, it remains a mystery and a source of fear.

This book explains the various types of anesthesia and clinical settings in which anesthesia is provided. The author is a very qualified practicing anesthesiologist who is also an assistant professor of clinical anesthesiology at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. The book is easy to read and contains numerous pictures and diagrams that are helpful for the reader's understanding.

Subjects that the book covers include

The book also includes sections dedicated to special topics such as plastic surgery in various settings, patients who are obese, childbirth, pediatric anesthesia, oral surgery, and nausea and vomiting. Some areas that I believe are of particular importance in discussing anesthesia that are not addressed are the patient's right to refuse a specific anesthesia care provider and request another, the criteria for using a laryngeal mask airway, concerns with patient-controlled analgesia by proxy, over-the-counter medications and herbal supplements, and use of meperidine in older adult patients.

Many of the chapters in this book contain checklists for patients, encouraging their participation in their own care. The advice is educational and informative, and the book is written in simple and easy-to-understand terms for the general public. The book empowers patients to help direct their care and ask the important questions of their caregivers before receiving anesthesia. I was disappointed that this book would not be very useful for perioperative nurses, but it would be great for surgeons' offices as a reference before surgery or for patients to keep in their home libraries and lend to friends and family members.