Physics for Anesthesiologists and Intensivists

This book, now in its 2nd edition, discusses, explains and provides detailed, up-to-date information on physics applied to clinical practice in anesthesiology and critical care medicine, with the aid of simple examples from daily life. Almost everything that happens around us, including in the operating room and intensive care units, can be explained by physical laws. An awareness and understanding of relatively simple laws such as the Hagen-Poiseuille equation, or of slightly more complex topics such as harmonic motion and electromagnetism, to name just a few, offer anesthesiologists and intensivists fascinating insights into why they do what they do.

After an introductory chapter that brushes up on all the (few) mathematics the reader will need to face the book, with many practical examples and clinical applications, each of the following 20 chapters deals with some everyday phenomena, explains them with one or more physical laws, and shows why these laws are important in anesthesia and critical care practice. Many illustrations are included for extra clarity.

This enriched and updated edition of Physics for Anesthesiologists is intended for anesthesiologists, intensivists, anesthesia and intensive care medicine teachers and trainees, as well as medical students. 

Antonio Pisano is a staff anesthesiologist and intensivist at the Cardiac Anesthesia and Intensive Care Unit of the Monaldi High Specialty and University Hospital, A.O. “Dei Colli”, Naples, Italy. He is also an Adjunct Professor of Hemodynamic Monitoring and Perioperative Hemodynamic Management in Cardiac Surgery at the Postgraduate School of Cardiac Surgery, University of Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”, Italy. He has published numerous papers in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of the American Medical Association, Critical Care Medicine, Anesthesia & Analgesia, the American Heart Journal, and the Journal of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Anesthesia. He is a book author and the author of several book chapters in the field of anesthesiology and critical care medicine, including a chapter in two different editions of the renowned Kaplan’s Cardiac Anesthesia textbook. Currently, he is the principal investigator in several multicenter randomized trials and is a reviewer for various international journals. He is, of course, also a great physics enthusiast.