Thoracic anaesthesia is regarded as a post fellowship sub-speciality within anaesthesia, and can be daunting. This handbook provides an easily accessible, informative, and palatable guide to this often complex subject. The text is sub-divided into basic sciences, pre-operative assessment, diagnostic procedures, and an anaesthetist's walk-through of key thoracic surgical procedures. It concludes with an emergency section covering thoracic anaesthesia emergencies, critical care, and the thoracic surgical patient, and ends with essential guidance on the relevant practical procedures necessary to manage cases.
The text provides an essential reference for the core curriculum of the Fellowship of the Royal College of Anaesthetists and for the day-to-day practice of post fellowship anaesthetists alike. The discussions of the surgical procedures are simple, highlighting the poignant stages that can affect the anaesthetic management of the patient.
The authors use the very latest evidence in order to keep the reader up to speed with developments in the field. Whether on-call, running day-to-day lists or working within critical care, this indispensable guidebook will optimise the preparedness of all staff in dealing with any case, whether simple or complex.

1: Basic physiology for thoracic anaesthesia
2: Basic anatomy for thoracic anaesthesia
3: Basic pharmacology for thoracic anaesthesia
4: Pre-operative assessment of the thoracic patient
5: Diagnostic and therapeutic procedures in thoracic anaesthesia
6: Surgery to the lung and upper airway
7: Surgery to the chest wall and pleura
8: Upper gastrointestinal and mediastinal surgery
9: Thoracic trauma, emergencies and special cases
10: Management of intra-operative problems
11: Critical care and the post-operative thoracic patient
12: Techniques in thoracic anaesthesia

Edited by Jonathan Wilkinson , Consultant in Intensive Care and Anaesthesia, Northampton General Hospital; Past Fellow in Thoracic Anaesthesia, Nottingham University Hospitals, UK

Stephen H. Pennefather , Consultant Anaesthetist, Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital, UK

Robert A. McCahon , Consultant Anaesthetist, Queen's Medical Centre, Nottingham, UK

Dr Jonathan Wilkinson qualified from the University of Liverpool Medical School in 1999. He completed further training in General Medicine and Accident and Emergency Medicine, and attained Membership of the Royal College of Physicians in 2002. He went on to train in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care in Nottingham, and attained Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians in 2005. During 2006-2007, he was Thoracic Anaesthesia Fellow at the Nottingham University Hospitals. He is currently Consultant in Intensive Care and Anaesthesia at Northampton General Hospital. Stephen H. Pennefather MRCP FRCA is a Consultant Anaesthetist at the Liverpool Heart and Chest Hospital. He qualified from Cape Town University and trained in general medicine and anaesthesia in South Africa and the UK. He has wide research interests in cardiothoracic anaesthesia. Robert A. McCahon MBChB, FRCA is a Consultant Anaesthetist at the Queen's Medical Centre. He qualified from Manchester University and trained in Wales, Australia, and finally Nottingham. His clinical commitments include anaesthesia for trauma, maxillo-facial surgery, and spinal surgery. He has research interests in cardio-respiratory modelling in ARDS and medical education.