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Fleisher and Ludwig have taken on an Olympian task. In the Textbook of Pediatric Emergency Medicine, the editors have attempted to provide a single informative source of the pathophysiology, differential diagnosis, and acute management of practically all pediatric conditions that the emergency department practitioner will encounter. They have done a superb job.
The book is divided into six sections. The first is devoted to life-support emergencies, the hallmark of emergency department practice. The second section, titled "Signs and Symptoms," includes the pathophysiology, differential diagnosis, and essential aspects of clinical evaluation for specific complaints that bring children to the emergency department. The third, fourth, and fifth sections, titled "Medical Emergencies," "Surgical Emergencies," and "Psychosocial and Medicolegal Emergencies," respectively, focus in more detail on most of the conditions identified in section 2. The final section illustrates 55 procedures frequently performed in caring for children in the emergency department. Helpful appendixes provide information