Acid-Base, Fluids, and Electrolytes Made Ridiculously Simple

R. A. Preston

MedMaster Inc, 1998

This 150-page softcover book is a very easy-to-read synopsis of a rather difficult subject. Although it certainly does simplify the subject, “made ridiculously easy” may be a bit of an understatement. This book provides a straightforward and systematic approach to acid-base and electrotype problems. It is intended for the current practitioner, resident, and anyone involved in intravenous fluid therapy.

The text involves an essential discussion of the key pathophysiology involved in each disorder and the important elements involved in the diagnosis and treatment of each disorder. It avoids excessive discussion of scientific detail, instead focusing on the overall approach to handling each case.

The book is divided into 10 chapters followed by an index. These chapters discuss abnormalities of the electrolytes sodium and potassium, metabolic and respiratory acidosis and alkalosis, and finally mixed acid-base disorders. The final chapter involves case examples. Indeed, more than half of this excellent book involves clinical examples. Each clinical example involves a case presentation followed by a detailed approach to diagnosis and treatment. These augment the initial chapter, which discusses the basics, with particular emphasis on renal physiology, and the chapter on “IV Solutions and IV Orders.”

Each case entails the diagnosis of the acid-base disorder involving essentially 3 steps, the approach to the individual electrolytes, and finally management considerations. The amount of repetition from case to case, as well as in the discussion of each case, is just right in highlighting the important points.

Each chapter also highlights the important formulae involved in both diagnosis and treatment. Many tables (called “figures”) very nicely summarize the discussions found in the text and help in the differential diagnosis of each disorder. Many of these formulae are summarized on the inside cover of this book, under the heading “Normal Values.”

This book neatly accomplishes its goal with its systematic approach to a very complicated (before reading this book) subject. Its step-by-step methods are based on firm scientific principles, and thus they are quite easy to understand and to remember. This is an excellent addition to the library of any practitioner treating patients both in the hospital and on an outpatient basis.