Pain in Neonates and Infants

Pain in Neonates and Infants K. J. S. Anand, B. J. Stevens, P. J. McGrath (eds) Elsevier, 2007, 308pp ISBN-13: 978-0-444-52061-6 The book is an update of an excellent second edition published in 2000. The book quite rightly states in its preface that few areas can boast the scientific advances that have occurred in the past few years on assessment and management of infant pain and that subsequently major differences may exist between scientific knowledge and clinical practice. This book closes that gap. The authors have chosen the contributors well, with international authors, not just those from one country, resulting in accepted experts in their field. There are 23 chapters in this book. The content is complete and I cannot think of any subject area that is not well covered. The chapters are divided into easily digestible parcels where the reader is satisfied by the content, but not overwhelmed by the length. The book starts with chapters including an overview followed by chapters on the development of pain, consequences of pain, pain assessment, pharmacology of pain (genetics, genomics, dynamics and kinetics), analgesic drugs, regional anaesthesia, socioeconomic and moral facets of pain, palliative care, evidenced based medicine, complementary therapy and future directions. Every chapter is well written, thorough and well referenced, with excellent tables, graphs and diagrams wherever needed. It is now the reference guide for pain in infants in our department and should be so in every department that manages pain in these children. In fact every clinician who manages pain in infants should have a copy. It is customary to include criticisms of a book when writing a review, I cannot find any, however. This is a great book - buy it. Anthony Moriarty 1Birmingham Children's Hospital NHS Trust Steelhouse Lane, Birmingham B4 6NH