This textbook, well known to North American residents, is now in its fourth edition. It has been extensively revised to include more up-to-date topics, such as robotic surgery, sleep medicine and paediatric otolaryngology. Authors Raza Pasha and Justin Golab aim to provide a paperback pocket book that is all-inclusive and accessible for residents, medical students, allied health professionals and even senior practitioners, looking to consolidate their knowledge.
Through 11 chapters, the format of this book is structured in a systematic way so as to act as a quick reference guide for clinical situations on a day to day basis, as well as last minute cramming for the all-important exams! Chapters include rhinology & paranasal sinuses, salivary glands, laryngology, otolaryngologic endocrinology, sleep medicine, general otolaryngology, head & neck cancer, otology & neurolotogy, reconstructive & facial plastic surgery, paediatric otolaryngology, head & neck trauma. The bullet point format allows details to be read with ease and there are some useful tables and differential diagnosis boxes. The four appendices on cancer staging, cranial nerves, vaccinations and anaesthesia are handy guides.
Considering it is a pocket book (755 pages!), it has a lot of detail packed into it on anatomy, physiology and management, spanning the entire breadth of the ENT field.
This book’s main rival would be the Oxford Specialist Handbook Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery for junior doctors, and although the detail is there (more detailed than the Oxford Handbook I think) in comparison, the clinical reference guide appears quite monochromatic, with fewer diagrams and pictures. A revision of this aspect would be my main recommendation for future editions. Overall, this book is well structured, to the point and a useful quick reference guide for exam revision.
