"The book would be of considerable help to first-year anesthesia residents, regional anesthesia fellows, and their teachers. It would also interest all enthusiasts of regional anesthesia and scholars to help with their research. ... In fact, it is an excellent book to learn and teach the technique of lumbar epidural. ... This book is indeed a treasure for those who want to delve into the origins and intricacies of the epidural space, right from the beginning to this modern day!" (Nishant Kumar, Anesthesia & Analgesia, Vol. 132 (3), March, 2021)
Chapter 1 History of Lumbar Epidural Block.- Chapter 2 Anatomy of the Lumbar Epidural Region.- Chapter 3 Distribution of a Solution in the Epidural Space.- Chapter 4 Fundamentals.- Chapter 5 Epidural Technique.- Chapter 6 New Techniques and Emerging Technologies to Identify the Epidural Space.- Chapter 7 Combined Spinal-Epidural Technique.- Chapter 8 Contraindications.- Chapter 9 Complications.- Chapter 10 Teaching Epidural Block.- Chapter 11 The Words of the Masters.
Giorgio Capogna graduated from La Sapienza University of Rome with degrees in Medicine and Surgery (1972-1978) and specialized in Anesthesiology and Intensive Care at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart in Rome (1978-1981). He subsequently worked at San Giovanni Calibita Fatebenefratelli Isola Tiberina Hospital in Rome, first as an Assistant Anesthesiologist (1980-1991) and then as the Director of OB Anesthesia (1991-2002).
He was a Research Fellow of Obstetric Anesthesia at the Los Angeles County Medical Center and Assistant Professor of Obstetric Anesthesia at Pittsburgh University (1986). Later serving as Head of the Department of Anesthesiology at the CdC Città di Roma, in Rome (2002-2017), he is a co-founder of the SIAARTI study group for Anesthesia in Obstetrics and of the Italian Club of Obstetric Anesthetists.
He was a founding member and Chairman of the European Society of Anesthesiology (ESA) Scientific Committee for Obstetric Anesthesia. He has served on the Editorial Board of some of the most prestigious international journals in the field such as Anesthesia & Analgesia, International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia, Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology, European Journal of Anesthesiology, and Obstetric Anesthesia Digest. He is the founder of the EESOA, the European School of Anesthesia in Obstetrics and the Neonatal Maternal Simulation Center. Recently he has specialized in communication and strategic problem solving. He regularly pursues multidisciplinary research on issues concerning childbirth and maternal pain. He is the author or co-author of 15 textbooks, 65 international publications reviewed on PubMed, and 86 publications in Italian.
This book represents a unique and substantial guide, and will bring anesthesiologists up-to-date on advances in the neuraxial technique and its applications in obstetrics. Today the epidural block is almost exclusively of interest to obstetric anesthesiologists, and how it is taught increasingly coincides with its applications in obstetrics.
Since the classical, seminal textbooks by Bonica, Moore and Bromage, published in the 1950s and 60s, textbooks devoted solely to the epidural technique have become quite rare. Among more recent books, there are many excellent texts on epidural anesthesia or analgesia in obstetrics, but none are fully dedicated to the epidural technique, which is usually described in a few paragraphs or, at most, in a chapter.
This highly detailed book, including videoclip on epidural technique, offers comprehensive coverage on epidurals; as such, it will appeal to all anesthesiologists, especially obstetric anesthesiologists.