TY - JOUR T1 - Critical Care Medicine. The Essentials. 4th Edition. JF - European Respiratory Review JO - EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY REVIEW SP - 169 LP - 169 VL - 19 IS - 116 AU - L.C. Price AU - J.R. Dick Y1 - 2010/06/01 UR - http://err.ersjournals.com/content/19/116/169.abstract N2 - Edited by J.J. Marini and A. Wheeler Published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Pages: 708. Price: £30.23. ISBN: 978-0781798396 In this fourth edition of Critical Care Medicine, the authors have laid out a thorough overview of intensive care unit (ICU) principles, written for practising clinicians, and principally aimed at students and residents on critical care rotations. The authors correctly suggest that this is a book to be read at leisure to enhance the understanding of the physiological principles essential for ICU practice: these will always remain, whereas protocols and recommendation may well come and go. The benefits of the joint authorship (there are only a few chapters with contributing authors) undoubtedly gives the book literary flow and lack of repetition, although it may also have its limitations. The book is divided into two sections: the first includes chapters covering critical care techniques and methods; the second, acute medical and surgical emergences common in everyday ICU practice. Useful key points are listed at the start of each chapter, and although references are not referred to within the text, useful suggested further reading … ER -