Oxford Handbook of Urology

Abstract

This book is billed as a quick reference guide to urological diagnosis and management. It is packaged as white-coat pocket size and is from the same series as the handbook of clinical medicine that gets most of us through house jobs or foundation years. The target readership is anyone in urology, from medical student up to consultant including nursing staff. It is also invaluable to those non-urologists with patients frequently suffering urological symptoms or concerns, such as accident and emergency staff and general practitioners. The book is divided into 19 chapters. The first 3 cover general principles of patient management, significance of symptoms and signs followed by urological investigations. The following 13 chapters cover the range of urological topics from the more obvious, such as bladder outlet obstruction (ie benign prostate disease) and malignant diseases of the urological tract, to perhaps less obvious topics such as sexual health, neuropathic bladder and trauma, in addition to a comprehensive chapter on paediatric urology. The final 3 chapters cover urological surgery and equipment, relevant basic science and urological eponyms. Each is covered succinctly over usually one or two pages, starting with definitions, incidence, aetiology and presentation followed by investigations and management. Despite being designed as a quick reference book it is really quite detailed. I have found it very suitable as the basis to grill specialist registrars revising for the final FRCS exam. The topic-based chapters make the book ideal for medical students and junior medical staff faced with a urology patient. The layout gives them an ideal structure to each topic and as such is very helpful to their learning process and to the safe management of patients. It is also excellent preparation for presenting patients in clinic or over the phone to seniors out of hours. Overall, I think this is an excellent book and the authors are to be congratulated for producing a book so useful across the spectrum of potential readers.