Practical guidance in the face of emergeny

Providing emergency eye care is one of the greatest challenges the ophthalmologist encounters. Some “emergencies”, like viral conjunctivitis, can wait. Others, like postoperative endophthalmitis, require extremely rapid, invasive treatment. Ocular Emergency (Springer), edited by Hua Yan, aims to help provide the reader develop the modes of clinical thinking that will lead to the most accurate diagnosis and correct treatment within the boundaries of time that acute disorders require. The publisher describes Ocular Emergency as “a systematic, symptom-based reference book for clinical practice guidance”. This is true. The first three chapters cover the general guidelines of ophthalmic emergency, the organisation of an ocular emergency room (ER) and the patient care process. The final seven chapters are organised by presenting symptom, sign or injury, from “Acute Redness of the Eye,” through “Open-Globe Injuries”. This 240-page book is ideal for junior ophthalmology trainees who are expected to help manage an ophthalmology ER or who will be the first point of contact for patients presenting with acute ocular pathology after regular office hours. More senior trainees could use this text to brush up on the basics, and ambitious nurses and clinical support staff could certainly deepen their knowledge of pathology by reading this book.

Tags: ocular emergency