Book review

  • S. F. Malamed
Elsevier price £62.99; pp 576 ISBN 9780323171229 | ISBN: 978-0-3231-7122-9

The seventh edition of Medical emergencies in the dental office is a glossy paperback designed as an authoritative resource for all the medical emergencies likely to occur. This 550 page colourful and aesthetically pleasing text is methodically written and well structured. This text is written by Stanley F Malamed (DDS) who is a Dentist Anesthesiologist in America. Potential readers must therefore be aware this is written from an American perspective and does not comply with Resuscitation Council guidelines (UK).

The book is split into eight parts further divided into 31 comprehensive chapters and covers a very extensive list of subjects. Some subjects the reader may be surprised to find in a medical emergencies text, for example, chapter four, Legal considerations.

Despite its somewhat daunting size, it is very easy to read and provides a very comprehensive reference for a variety of medical emergencies. Each medical emergency is given a very detailed background of risk factors, pathophysiology, prevention and clinical manifestations before management of the condition is discussed.

The topics covered range from simple syncope through to foreign body airway obstruction and cardiac arrest. Readers may be surprised to find acute adrenal insufficiency and thyroid gland dysfunction covered. These chapters are extremely interesting but may be of little practical use to the majority of general dental practitioners.

As mentioned, this book is written from an American perspective and with this in mind, readers should show caution in following protocols that do not comply with UK guidelines. For example, basic life support in this text recommends a very different approach to that of the Resuscitation Councils 'ABCDE'.

In conclusion, this book is comprehensive in its discussion and management of medical emergencies. However, given it does not comply with UK guidelines I could not recommend this text alone to anyone wishing to broaden their knowledge and experience. It is however an extremely interesting read and an excellent foundation for any undergraduate dental student.