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APS Bulletin • Volume 9, Number 1, January/February 1999

Resource Reviews

John D. Loeser, MD, Department Editor

Therapeutic Guidelines

Reviewed by John D. Loeser, MD

Therapeutic Guidelines Limited, North Melbourne, Australia, 1997, 265 pages, $16.45 (softcover), ISBN 0-7241-9087-2

This pocket-sized book on analgesic guidelines was prepared by an Australian committee, and although it contains some material parochial to the antipodes, it could be useful to primary care practitioners in this country as well. Although the book ends with a glossary that uses the IASP definition of pain, the introductory discussion of pathophysiology uses a definition of pain that includes only its sensory aspects. This definition and the treatments outlined in the book reflect the relative lack of psychologists and psychological services in Australia. On the other hand, the committee has done a very nice job describing rational pharmacological strategies and a dollop of physical treatments. It is definitely aimed at medical practitioners and not at pain specialists.

John D. Loeser is professor of neurological surgery and anesthesiology at the University of Washington in Seattle.

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