Book review: Eye Surgery in Hot Climates Fourth edition
Eye Surgery in Hot Climates
Fourth edition
by William Dean and John Sandford-Smith
It is a sad fact that, despite the technological revolution in eye surgery, there are still 39 million people in the world who are blind, with over half afflicted by cataract. There is a need for more trained eye staff to carry out high-quality and cost-effective surgery in the hardest-to-reach places. The fourth edition of this classic text is an invaluable aid to anyone wanting to know how to tackle cataract, glaucoma and lid surgery. Just as important, however, is the chain of successful surgery – sterilisation, pre-op preparation, local anaesthesia, magnification and illumination, good instruments, surgical knowledge and technique – all of which are described in detail in the book.
The fourth edition has an expanded section on the principles of learning surgical skills from the novice stage to the competent eye surgeon. The instructions are comprehensive and the line drawings clear. Together with the DVD on suturing, local anaesthesia and operative procedures, and two quizzes, the student will have everything bar the patient!
Readers may be surprised to read in detail about intra-capsular cataract extraction with forceps or cryo and retrobulbar anaesthesia, but the long list of potential complications associated with the latter should convince the wise surgeon to use the safer sub-Tenon’s instead. Phacoemulsification is quite rightly put on the back burner whilst small incision cataract surgery is given the attention it deserves.
It is a pity that there are a number of typographical errors. Hopefully these will not appear in the fifth edition that will inevitably follow in years to come.