Principles of Physiology for the Anaesthetist, 2nd Edition

Book Preface

The origin of this book lies in the many physiology teaching sessions we have held between us at various times in Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore and the United Kingdom for trainees attending preparatory courses for fellowship examinations in anaesthetics. One common lament of the participants, who were usually much too kind to criticize our modest teaching skills, was that there was a real need for a single text covering physiology for anaesthetists. Often the comparison was made with pharmacology, which, in contrast, was held to be well provided with textbooks for anaesthetists. We both gradually came to the same appreciation that there may well be some need for a succinct book presenting the understanding of physiological principles and the factual knowledge necessary for the practice of anaesthesia. Given the encouragement of our students and colleagues, we have attempted to produce a clear and concise presentation of physiology for anaesthetists. It is not our intention that this text should be used instead of standard physiology reference books; rather we seek to provide an overview of the subject in a single volume that will be useful for those preparing for postgraduate examinations. Whilst the title specifies anaesthetists, we hope that it might also contain some material of value for students in related areas.

We wanted to write most of the book and prepare the diagrams ourselves. However, we were enthusiastic to give prominence to the rapid advances made in the understanding of pain physiology and are delighted by the excellent chapter presented to us by our valued colleagues in Sydney, Professor Michael Cousins and Dr Philip Siddall, who are both recognized experts on this subject. We are especially grateful to the pharmaceutical companies Abbott, AstraZeneca, CSL and Roche in Australia for their generous financial support towards the artistic work involved in the preparation of the diagrams in this volume.

Our own enthusiasm for teaching physiology continues to be renewed by the interest and appreciation expressed by our many students in different countries, and we would like to dedicate this book to them.