Today marks the 3d anniversary of Dr. Ron Litman’s untimely death from leukemia. Last week we highlighted the Ron Litman Mentoring Awardees. Today, I’m going to announce a new collaboration of the PAAD with the journal Pediatric Anesthesia and a review of the 3d edition of his textbook “Litman’s Basics of Pediatric Anesthesia, 3d edition”. Next week, Dr. Henry Rosenberg will provide us with a Malignant Hyperthermia update.
Original article
Brooks Peterson M, Yaster M, Lockman JL. The Pediatric Anesthesia Article of the Day (PAAD): A new solution to a ubiquitous problem. Paediatr Anaesth. 2024 Mar 19. doi: 10.1111/pan.14879. PMID: 38501565.
The PAAD’s executive council is thrilled to announce a new partnership with the journal Pediatric Anesthesia. Working in close partnership with the Journal's Editorial Board we will establish a PAAD-generated list of articles of interest from across the published spectrum, as well as a recurring “best of PAAD” feature to be published in the Journal.
Original article: Reviews of Educational Material
Yaster, Myron, "Litman’s Basics of Pediatric Anesthesia, 3rd Edition". Anesthesiology, vol. 140, no. 5, March 08, 2024, pp. 1055-1056. doi: 10.1097/ALN.0000000000004889.
I must admit that when I was asked to review this textbook for the journal Anesthesiology, I wondered “Why?” “What was the need?” “Does anymore actually read (or buy) textbooks anymore?” To do the review I buckled down and, for perhaps the first time since my residency, read a textbook from cover to cover. The good news? My wife Pam didn’t find me slumped over my desk in a pool of drool as I read it. Indeed, it was actually a joy to read and a real credit to Ron and Dr. Aditee Ambardekar, one of Dr. Litman’s mentees and colleagues and currently Distinguished Teaching Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Management, UT Southwestern Medical Center (Dallas, Texas), who assumed the responsibility of finishing this third edition.
Cutting to the chase: “Should you buy this book?” This is not an encyclopedic textbook that needs to be in your hospital or office library, like Smith’s, Gregory’s. or Cote/Lerman/Anderson. Rather, it is a concise, easy to read textbook and a perfect resource for students, residents and fellows on their pediatric anesthesia rotations. I would encourage you to suggest this book to your trainees, and better yet, to use it to help formulate their anesthetic plans before they call you the night before surgery.. And to sweeten the pot, at the bottom of each of the daily PAADs there is a link to get a 20% discount when buying the book!