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Immediate care of the sick and injured child
Injury, 11,34 l-342 Printed in Great Britain
341
Book Reviews Immediate Care of the Sick and Injured Child. Edited by Shiv K. Dube and Sophie H. Pierog. 255 x 175 mm. Pp. xv + 286, with 6 illustrations and index. St Louis. Mosby. E12.00. This volume of contributions from 20 American authors, edited by two paediatricians from New York, is too bulky to be carried around and is really a reference book for the accident and emergency department. It is divided into two main sections. The first, in forty pages, takes the reader through the seventeen most common signs and symptoms with which a child may present (for instance, fever, cough, noisy breathing, convulsions, limp etc.) and indicates clearly the most likely causes that should be looked for. The second section, in seventeen chapters spread over 186 pages, deals with the common emergencies as they affect the various body systems - cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal, genito-urinary etc. -and adds sections on bums, child battering and poisoning, to mention only a few of the topics. There are five appendices, a list of abbreviations that would have been more welcome at the beginning of the book and an index. It would be quite correct to call this book a ‘mine of information’, but not all mines have very rich seams, the quality of the ore may vary greatly and the prospector (like the book reviewer) can only make a reliable assay from samples of material of which he has expert knowledge. A great deal of the information in this book deals with paediatric medical emergencies and such subjects as the management of coma, convulsion, dehydration and poisoning. The surgical guidance that is given is usually expressed in fairly general terms and is normally reliable. It is, however, a little disturbing to see bums still classified into four degrees and to read that in the treatment of minor bums one should ‘change the dressing daily’. This cruel practice, both physical and psychological, is unforgivable, especially in a paediatric unit. To reproduce accurately the mass of figures quoted in the text, tables and appendices, must have been sheer agony for the compositors and even worse for the proof readers, particularly when a misplaced decimal point can literally be death. The index is highly unsatisfactory, incomplete and does not make for easy reference. For instance ‘Nomogram, Done. 203’ is utterly meaningless until you look at page 203 and fmd there a nomogram on salicylate intoxication adapted
from an article by A. K. Done in a paediatric journal published in 1960. The print and lay out of the main body of the book is designed for the American reader and the American market. Its style is dull but clear and a welcome relief from the appalling jargon and execrable English of the opening two chapters, which made your reviewer wince so often that one could have been forgiven for mistaking the symptoms of early tetanus. Unfortunately, this book does not tell you how to treat tetanus and you will not find it even mentioned in the index! MICHAELN. TEMPEST
The Injured Adolescent Knee. Edited by J. C. Kennedy. 235 x 155 mm. Pp. 256. Illustrated, with index. 1979. Baltimore, Williams&Wilkins. $29.75. For those interested in the knee this is undeniably an enjoyable little book to read. Each section is written by world authorities on their subject and both the subject matter and the bibliography are extensive for such a small volume. However, the question remains as to whether there is either the justification or need for such a book. In the preface the editor states that ‘the adolescent knee is unhke the adult knee. The reader will immediately grasp the significance of this observation as the chapters unfold’. Unfortunately, this reader failed to grasp this significance and indeed became persuaded that the injured adolescent knee was similar to most injured adult knees. The justification would seem to rely on the two subjects of epiphyseal plate injuries and chondromalacia patellae and it must be said that these are described well as one would expect from Professors Salter and James who have contributed so much to our understanding of these conditions. The chapter on chondromalacia patellae is particularly rewarding in its commonsense, instructive and surprisingly conservative approach to this baming condition or conditions, but the fmal answer to chondromalacia patellae is neither reached nor given. It is a common condition in adolescent girls and it was slightly disappointing to read a description of open lateral retinacular release with its resultant large scar without a mention of the so-called closed lateral retinacular release with its small scar.
341
Book Reviews Immediate Care of the Sick and Injured Child. Edited by Shiv K. Dube and Sophie H. Pierog. 255 x 175 mm. Pp. xv + 286, with 6 illustrations and index. St Louis. Mosby. E12.00. This volume of contributions from 20 American authors, edited by two paediatricians from New York, is too bulky to be carried around and is really a reference book for the accident and emergency department. It is divided into two main sections. The first, in forty pages, takes the reader through the seventeen most common signs and symptoms with which a child may present (for instance, fever, cough, noisy breathing, convulsions, limp etc.) and indicates clearly the most likely causes that should be looked for. The second section, in seventeen chapters spread over 186 pages, deals with the common emergencies as they affect the various body systems - cardiopulmonary, gastrointestinal, genito-urinary etc. -and adds sections on bums, child battering and poisoning, to mention only a few of the topics. There are five appendices, a list of abbreviations that would have been more welcome at the beginning of the book and an index. It would be quite correct to call this book a ‘mine of information’, but not all mines have very rich seams, the quality of the ore may vary greatly and the prospector (like the book reviewer) can only make a reliable assay from samples of material of which he has expert knowledge. A great deal of the information in this book deals with paediatric medical emergencies and such subjects as the management of coma, convulsion, dehydration and poisoning. The surgical guidance that is given is usually expressed in fairly general terms and is normally reliable. It is, however, a little disturbing to see bums still classified into four degrees and to read that in the treatment of minor bums one should ‘change the dressing daily’. This cruel practice, both physical and psychological, is unforgivable, especially in a paediatric unit. To reproduce accurately the mass of figures quoted in the text, tables and appendices, must have been sheer agony for the compositors and even worse for the proof readers, particularly when a misplaced decimal point can literally be death. The index is highly unsatisfactory, incomplete and does not make for easy reference. For instance ‘Nomogram, Done. 203’ is utterly meaningless until you look at page 203 and fmd there a nomogram on salicylate intoxication adapted
from an article by A. K. Done in a paediatric journal published in 1960. The print and lay out of the main body of the book is designed for the American reader and the American market. Its style is dull but clear and a welcome relief from the appalling jargon and execrable English of the opening two chapters, which made your reviewer wince so often that one could have been forgiven for mistaking the symptoms of early tetanus. Unfortunately, this book does not tell you how to treat tetanus and you will not find it even mentioned in the index! MICHAELN. TEMPEST
The Injured Adolescent Knee. Edited by J. C. Kennedy. 235 x 155 mm. Pp. 256. Illustrated, with index. 1979. Baltimore, Williams&Wilkins. $29.75. For those interested in the knee this is undeniably an enjoyable little book to read. Each section is written by world authorities on their subject and both the subject matter and the bibliography are extensive for such a small volume. However, the question remains as to whether there is either the justification or need for such a book. In the preface the editor states that ‘the adolescent knee is unhke the adult knee. The reader will immediately grasp the significance of this observation as the chapters unfold’. Unfortunately, this reader failed to grasp this significance and indeed became persuaded that the injured adolescent knee was similar to most injured adult knees. The justification would seem to rely on the two subjects of epiphyseal plate injuries and chondromalacia patellae and it must be said that these are described well as one would expect from Professors Salter and James who have contributed so much to our understanding of these conditions. The chapter on chondromalacia patellae is particularly rewarding in its commonsense, instructive and surprisingly conservative approach to this baming condition or conditions, but the fmal answer to chondromalacia patellae is neither reached nor given. It is a common condition in adolescent girls and it was slightly disappointing to read a description of open lateral retinacular release with its resultant large scar without a mention of the so-called closed lateral retinacular release with its small scar.