Preface

Current Emergency Diagnosis & Treatment, eighth edition, is designed to present concise, easy-to-read, practical information on the diagnosis and treatment of a wide spectrum of conditions that present to the emergency department. The chapters emphasize the immediate management of life-threatening problems then present the evaluation and treatment of specific disorders. We trust that this text will aid all practitioners of emergency medicine in providing care to their patients.

In keeping with the tradition of the Current series, CEDT strives to provide the reader with a broad-based text written in a clear and succinct manner. Our goal is to provide practicing emergency physicians quick access to accurate and useful information that will aid in their everyday practice of emergency medicine.

Because this text focuses on the practical aspects of emergency care, there is little discussion of the basic science or pathophysiology of disease processes. In addition, discussion of management restricts the material presented to treatments routinely provided in the ED.

CEDT will be useful to all practitioners of emergency medicine, including physicians, residents, medical students as well as physician extenders. It will also provide valuable information for emergency nurses and prehospital care providers.

This edition retains the priority-based and problem-oriented organization of previous editions. Chapters in Section I: Special Aspects of Emergency Medicine are written in a non-structured free text format. Chapters in Section II: Management of Common Emergency Problems are presented in a problem-based format. Life-threatening disorders are discussed first followed by a presentation of specific disorders. This chapter format is carried out in the remainder of the book in both Section III: Traumatic Emergencies and Section IV: Non-trauma Emergencies. All chapters have been updated for this edition.

We would like to thank the staff at McGraw-Hill and Cenveo Publisher Services for their patience and support throughout the preparation of the manuscript. In addition, we again would like to thank our families, Gail and Chase; Kris, Maddie, and Jack for their love and indulgence to allow us to dedicate the hours needed to work on this edition.