Book Reviews

Review by JIMA (Journal of Indian Medical Association)

The book is precisely the same as the name suggests. It fulfills a long felt need for compact & yet detailed practical approach to fluid therapy in various medical and surgical conditions. Apart from the introductory chapters explaining the basics of body fluid compartments and their compositions along with disorders, there are chapters detailing special situations. e.g. fluid management in diabetes mellitus, renal disorders, burns etc.

Instead of delivering the abstruse mechanism of aquaporess and electrolyte charts, this handbook goes in to the details of individual problems faced, methods of collection of arterial blood, monitoring the intake & output, ORT and most of the other everyday problems faced by the medical and surgical residents and consultants alike.

This book, in summary, is an excellent handbook that should be on the shelf of every department and in the pocket of every resident in a hospital.

Review by JAPI (Journal of Association of Physicians of India)

This handy user-friendly book is aimed to provide up-to-date practical information about fluid, electrolyte & acid base disorders to medical students, postgraduates and every clinician.

Special Features:

Basic concepts of commonly used intravenous preparations and its use in clinical practice.
Unique, simple methods of calculating fluid administration.
Simple & easy approach to fluid, electrolytes & acid base disorders & its management.
Many complex areas simplified in form of Questions & answer for easy understanding.
Special chapters focused on clinical problems to provide quick and easy guidelines.
Latest, easy to use information about fluid therapy of medical, surgical and pediatric patients in separate chapters.

The complete monogram on fluid, electrolyte and acid base disorders.

Review by Indian Journal of Anesthesia

Clinician who is involved in the fluid and electrolytes management of a variety of patients at various areas of the hospital, needs to have a small, comprehensive book always at hand, which can be bail him/her out in difficult clinical situations, offering ready answers to the dilemmas, encountered. This book by a nephrologist satisfies these criteria and must be read by every clinician including anesthesiologists and intensivist. The special feature of the book is the simple language and the method of presentation. Author has used ‘case presentations’ as well as ‘question and answers formats which are appealing and help the readers to understand the concepts of the clinical problem. The book is priced low.

Review by: Dr. P F Kotur, Editor IJA, Prof. & Head, J. N. Medical Collage, Belgaum

Review by Journal of Postgraduate Medicine

The textbook "Practical Guidelines on Fluid Therapy" authored by Dr. Sanjay Pandya (consulting nephrologist) has satisfied the long-felt need of a comprehensive monogram on fluid therapy in adults and children. The book is handy, low-cost, user-friendly and authoritative. The use of a question and answer format has made the text appealing to physicians who are looking for a specific answer in a given clinical situation. The scattered medical literature on fluid and electrolyte therapy has been well compiled in one place by means of this book.

Each chapter begins with a table of contents, which allows the reader to go to the desired information readily, thus saving precious time. The text has been well supported by liberal use of flowcharts, tables, diagrams and figures. Various formulae for calculations have been provided and explained in a lucid language. The bibliography of about 30 references at the end of the textbook adds depth to the research done by the author while compiling the textbook.

The text has been aptly divided into 11 chapters, which describe the management of fluids and electrolyte imbalance in various medical and surgical disorders. The text begins with a chapter on basic physiology and ends with a chapter on prescribing fluid therapy. The inclusion of the composition of the various fluid preparations and electrolyte solutions available adds a good practical dimension to the textbook. All the important disorders of fluid balance and individual electrolyte imbalance are dealt with in the third chapter. Separate chapters on diabetes mellitus and renal disorders emphasize the importance of fluid and electrolyte management in these conditions. Acid-base disorders have been dealt with as well. Fluid therapy in children has been given due importance and is dealt with separately. The chapter on fluid therapy in children discusses the various forms of dehydration in children and intravenous and oral rehydration therapy. The index provided at the end of the book allows rapid search of the desired information.

If the book is converted into a ′Pocket-Book′ format, it will be easier for the resident medical officers to carry it around in their wards. The book would be an asset to libraries and it would also serve as a useful desktop reference for undergraduate and postgraduate medical students, practitioners, physicians, nephrologists, endocrinologists and medical teachers.

Review by Indian Journal of Pharmacology

This book written by Dr. Sanjay N. Pandya, a practicing Nephrologist is indeed a practical guide on management of fluid and electrolyte imbalance. Subject which is considered dull and most difficult to comprehend is quite well written and simplified by the author in form of question and answer.

It covers several areas separately which include fluid therapy in medical emergencies, renal disorders, diabetes mellitus and in pediatric and surgical patients. Transurethral resection of prostate (TURP) syndrome is an example of specific surgical situation where special management strategy has been outlined.

The book is mainly meant for ICU residents and practicing doctors, besides as a reference book for medical postgraduates and library. There are several boxes and flow-charts summing up the key points and approach to a particular problem, however there could have been still more. More case studies in each chapter with management strategy would have been ideal. Despite this small shortcoming, it is an immensely readable book and is good for many. Style of presentation and language is simple and enjoyable.

Review by: Dr. TK Dutta, Professor of Medicine, JIPMER, Pondicherry - 605006, India

Review by Indian Journal of Practical Pediatrics

Fluid therapy is one of the more important problems but a volatile subject. The author has made it, simple by presenting all the chapters in the form of questions and answers which makes understanding of complex problems easy. This book describes the basic physiology and principals of fluid therapy in depth. Approach to dyselectrolytemias is very practical. The author has described many case scenarios in the chapter on acid base disorders, which help in better understanding of the problem. The calculation of rate of fluid infusion for standard and micro IV drip set is sample and will be very useful to practitioners. There is a separate chapter on fluid therapy in children. The print is bold and easy to read. Overall, this book can be recommended for practitioners.