Manual of Gastroenterology: Diagnosis and Therapy

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When asked to review this book, we immediately accepted having recently reviewed similar material in various other sources. One of us had recently completed their fellowship and sat for the board examination; the other was responsible for preparing fellows in Gastroenterology for practice and taking the board examination. After our review and discussion, we found this text very comprehensive and easy to read for its intended purpose. The author has introduced his book addressing topics that the aspiring gastroenterologist and the primary care physician very often overlook: the social impact, and the psychological and emotional aspects of gastrointestinal disorders, as well as the importance of patients' complaints. He reviews the essential features of the physical examination and proceeds to discuss in separate sections: diagnostic and therapeutic procedures, nutritional assessment and management, and emergencies, with the final section outlining the main complaints and disorders seen by gastroenterologists.

Dr Avunduk's Manual of Gastroenterology meets its goals as a concise, practical, up-to-date reference for diagnosing and managing diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. Its depth of content may not be entirely adequate for the practicing gastroenterologist, but serves as a quick, easy, and well-organized summary of relevant facts of common gastrointestinal disorders for medical students, residents, and internists. The author has expertly incorporated all essential areas of gastroenterology in 483 pages. The format used by the author is complete. It outlines the pathophysiology, clinical presentation, differential diagnosis, diagnostic studies, and treatment of the individual diseases. Preceding the clinical chapters, there is an overall assessment of the diagnostic and therapeutic modalities used in gastroenterology, including the more novel procedures, such as capsule endoscopy and endoscopic ultrasound, creating a good background discussing the clinical management of diseases.

The use of bold headings in subsections creates easy reading and makes locating information trouble free. Tables create a quick summary of differential diagnosis, essential features of various diseases discussed in the chapters, for example, Tables 29-4 and 29-5, the causes of acute and chronic diarrhea. However, on a few occasions, the tables are repetitive of the text information and may not necessarily provide additional information. Overall, the author makes good use of figures, flow charts, tables, and diagrams in most chapters, best illustrated in Chapter 39: colon polyps and colorectal cancer, in which aids are clear and of relatively good quality. Use of color occasionally would have provided visual relief from the black-and-white text and figures, but does not distract from the presentation of information. The chapters are well referenced; a list of references at the end of each chapter provides recent literature sources, most within the past 2 years. The index is very useful, allowing the reader to quickly find most topics encountered in clinical gastroenterology. Given that this book will be used as a frequent reference source, the paper quality is acceptable and the book's soft cover allows easy carrying and storage.

Intended as an updated version to previous publications of the text, the book adequately addresses recent advances and areas of increasing interest in gastroenterologic disease. For example, in a time when obesity is a nationwide concern, the author has addressed this as a separate chapter as well as the increasing gastrointestinal problems resulting from obesity surgery. Interestingly, he has dedicated an entire section of the book to address nutritional assessment and management, including calculations, which may have not been necessary for a quick reference for the intended target readers. Noteworthy also are chapters dedicated to sexually transmitted enteric disorders and gastrointestinal and hepatobiliary diseases in patients with HIV and AIDS, which our physicians increasingly encounter in their practice.

The author has chosen an interesting way to divide his contents, separating clinical topics into gastrointestinal emergencies and specific complaints and disorders (nonemergent topics). This provides the reader with easy accessibility to urgent clinical problems. However, this may be repetitive in the later chapters under a different topic. In general, however, the chapters are particularly well written with good organization. Noteworthy are the chapters on esophageal disease, which include well-written sections on manometric studies, as well as the comprehensive overview of liver diseases. We could find helpful more radiologic and pathologic images to better illustrate certain diagnoses.

Bottom Line: This text is a well written, up to date, and concise but extensive review of current topics in gastroenterology. It is perfect for the medical student, resident, or internist who desires an intelligent source of clinical information for dealing with gastrointestinal diseases both emergently and nonemergently, and may serve as a quick reference for the gastroenterologist. If you expect this book to provide accurate current information at your fingertips, you will not be disappointed.