Smith and Aitkenhead's Textbook of Anaesthesia - 8th Edition

For over 40 years, this award-winning textbook has been the core text for anaesthetists new to the specialty and other healthcare professionals involved in perioperative care. Now in its eighth edition, this high quality, clinically relevant resource continues to offer essential reading covering all aspects of anaesthesia in surgery.

Covering day-to-day clinical practice in anaesthesia and perioperative medicine, from preoperative assessment and optimisation to clinical anaesthesia and postoperative care, this practical guide also contains an overview of the scientific principles that underpin these practices. It includes topics such as relevant pharmacology and basic physiology; data analysis and statistics; physics; equipment and monitoring; safety and quality assurance; general, regional and local anaesthetic techniques for a full range of surgical specialties. In combining these aspects, it has been an invaluable resource for generations of anaesthetists.

Fully updated and now accompanied by ancillary videos, this book is ideal for all trainee anaesthetists including candidates for the Fellowship of Royal College of Anaesthetists and similar examinations.

• Highly regarded internationally
• Aligned to the FRCA syllabus - including the updated FRCA syllabus references linked to the relevant content of each chapter in the online ebook
• Offers clear, concise and practical coverage of all aspects of anaesthesia and perioperative care, including intensive care and chronic pain management
• Chapters extensively cross referenced for the reader

List of contents

SECTION 1: Basic sciences
1. General principles of pharmacology
2. Data, statistics and clinical trials
3. Inhalational anaesthetic agents and medical gases
4. Intravenous anaesthetic and sedative drugs
5. Local anaesthetics
6. Physiology and pharmacology of pain
7. Nausea and vomiting
8. Muscle function and neuromuscular block
9. Cardiovascular system
10. Respiratory system
11. Renal system
12. Fluid, electrolyte and acid-base balance
13. Metabolism, stress responses and thermoregulation
14. Blood, coagulation and transfusion

SECTION 2: Physics and apparatus
15. Basic physics for the anaesthetist
16. Anaesthetic apparatus
17. Clinical measurement and monitoring

SECTION 3: Fundamentals of anaesthesia & perioperative medicine
18. Quality and safety in anaesthesia
19. Preoperative assessment and preparation
20. Intercurrent disease and anaesthesia
21. Consent and information for patients
22. The practical conduct of anaesthesia
23. Airway management
24. Pain management
25. Local and regional anaesthetic techniques
26. Complications during anaesthesia
27. Management of critical incidents
28. Resuscitation
29. Point-of-care ultrasound
30. Postoperative and recovery room care
31. Sustainability

SECTION 4: Clinical anaesthesia
32. Anaesthesia for the older person and/or those living with frailty
33. Anaesthesia for the patient with obesity
34. Paediatric anaesthesia
35. Anaesthesia for day surgery
36. Anaesthesia for general, gynaecological and genitourinary surgery
37. Anaesthesia for orthopaedic surgery
38. Anaesthesia for ear, nose and throat, maxillofacial and dental surgery
39. Anaesthesia for ophthalmic surgery
40. Anaesthesia for vascular, endocrine and plastic surgery
41. Anaesthesia for neurosurgery
42. Anaesthesia for thoracic surgery
43. Anaesthesia for cardiac surgery
44. Obstetric anaesthesia
45. Emergency and trauma anaesthesia
46. Anaesthesia in resource-poor areas
47. Anaesthesia outside the operating theatre
48. Anaesthesia and organ transplantation
49. Intensive care

About the author

Jonathan Thompson is Honorary Professor and Consultant in Anaesthesia and Critical Care, University of Leicester and University Hospitals of Leicester NHS Trust, Leicester, UKIain Moppett is Professor of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Honorary Consultant Anaesthetist, Anaesthesia and Critical Care Section, Division of Clinical Neuroscience at University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.Iain Moppett is Professor of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Honorary Consultant Anaesthetist, Anaesthesia and Critical Care Section, Division of Clinical Neuroscience at University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.Iain Moppett is Professor of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, Honorary Consultant Anaesthetist, Anaesthesia and Critical Care Section, Division of Clinical Neuroscience at University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK.Matthew Wiles is a Consultant in the Department of Anaesthesia at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, Sheffield, UK

Product details

• Authors: Jonathan Thompson
• Assisted by: Iain Moppett (Editor), Jonathan Thompson (Editor), Matthew Wiles (Editor)
• Publisher: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 25.06.2025
• EAN: 9780443126680
• ISBN: 978-0-443-12668-0
• Subjects: Natural sciences, medicine, IT, technology > Medicine > Non-clinical medicine; MEDICAL / Anesthesiology, Anaesthetics