Canadian Journal of Anesthesia 48:1051 (2001)
© Canadian Anesthesiologists' Society, 2001
Conducting Research in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Medicine
Alex M. Zbinden, Dick Thomson. Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 2001. 550 pages. $69.95 (US) ISBN 0-7506-4544-X
François Donati, MD
Montreal, Quebec
To many would-be readers, a book about conducting research deals with study design and statistics. This multi-authored monograph goes much further and encompasses all the steps required from inception of a project to publication. Issues such as performing a literature search, obtaining funds, considering ethical issues, writing a paper in proper English, presenting at meetings, getting published, performing measurements, setting up studies in animals or volunteers are also covered. The Swiss editors managed to obtain a remarkably uniform style from the 38 contributors coming from three continents. All chapters have a table of contents and summary, bold type to highlight concepts introduced in the text, simple tables or bullet lists, and clear line drawings as figures. Some chapters also include a glossary of terms, web site addresses, equations, and computer programs. The material will certainly be extremely valuable for young investigators, but could also be used extensively by more senior researchers, residents and research assistants. The book contains concise factual information on a wide spectrum of items, such as impact factors, Fourier transforms, pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modelling, high performance liquid chromatography, electroencephalographic monitoring, to name a few. It also includes a lot of expert advice on, among other topics, how to set up studies, consider ethical issues, give a talk, present a poster, respond to reviewers, choose animal models for research... The choice of examples makes the contents of the book particularly appealing to anesthesiologists and intensive care physicians, but the principles described apply to most disciplines in medicine.
