BOOK AND MEDIA REVIEWS
Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine, 5th Edition
Review by Mark A. Graber, MD
0196-0644/$-see front matter
Copyright © 2011 by the American College of Emergency Physicians
Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine,
5th Edition
Hedges JR, Roberts JR
Saunders, 2009
1416 pages, $207
ISBN-13: 978-1-4160-3623-4
ISBN-10: 1-4160-3623-7
Are you kidding me? A book on procedures in 2010?
Books are so passé. After all, there is YouTube and the New
England Journal of Medicine procedure videos (http://
www.nejm.org/multimedia/videosinclinicalmedicine). But
wait . . . Roberts’ and Hedges’ Clinical Procedures in
Emergency Medicine fifth edition remains a useful addition to
any emergency department library.
Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine is a concise, well-
written textbook that goes beyond the Web in several ways and
also incorporates its own Web-based content. So what is it that
Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine adds that isn’t
available free on the Web? First, authorities in the field of
emergency medicine have vetted the information. This is not
true of much of the procedure material available on the Web.
Second, Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine excels at
analysis: what procedure should be done and why. For example,
the section on puncture wounds to the foot discusses indications
for wound exploration, wound coring, etc, at different stages of
presentation (day 1 of injury, day 3 post injury, etc). However,
the advice to bury an 11 blade “to the hilt” (page 938) in the
bottom of the foot to core out a puncture wound left me
scratching my head.
The book also covers a very wide range of procedures, not
just those of glory that we revel in such as chest tubes and
intubations. Ever wonder what to do when a feeding tube
becomes dislodged and the ostomy site has contracted,
Volume , .  : February 
precluding easy insertion of a replacement tube? You will find
your answer here; there are no fewer than 20 pages on the
insertion and care of feeding tubes. Want to know whether
there is a bedside test to determine whether a mushroom is toxic
or not? You will learn about the Meixner test on page 1,299. In
actuality, the moniker Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine
does not do this book justice. Clinical Procedures in Emergency
Medicine is a full-fledged emergency medicine text that is
complementary to the more traditional texts such as Tintinalli’s
and Rosen’s. The breadth and depth of information are
commendable.
The book comes with access to a Web site. Here I found my
main disappointment. One would hope that the Web site would
include procedure videos and other multimedia content to
complement the printed version. Unfortunately, this is not the
case. The Web site is unidimensional and only mirrors the
content of the book in electronic form. Even links to public
domain procedure videos would be welcome additions. But,
alas, the information is static and I found myself preferring the
textbook to the electronic edition, something I almost never
find to be true.
In conclusion, Clinical Procedures in Emergency Medicine is
an excellent source of information not only about procedures
but also of good, solid clinical information in emergency
medicine. Do not let the lack of additional content on the Web
site discourage you from purchasing this book. I highly
recommend it.
Mark A. Graber, MD
Emergency and Family Medicine
University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine
Iowa City, IA
doi:10.1016/j.annemergmed.2010.08.042
Annals of Emergency Medicine 189