Dr Steve Roberts has been a Consultant Paediatric Anaesthetist in the Jackson Rees Department of Anaesthesia at Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust Hospital for over 15 years. He is Clinical Lead for Day Surgery and Radiology. As a registrar Dr Roberts became interested in the use of ultrasound to image children's spines and soon realised that it had begun to be used in adults in Europe to identify peripheral nerves. As a consequence he was an early adopter of these techniques; starting one of the first UK ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia courses; and contributing to chapters to many of the first books on this subject.

• Section 1: Basic sciences 1: Tom Engelhardt: System based anatomy and physiology 2: Tom Engelhardt: Pharmacology and fluids Section 2: Perioperative care 3: Barry Lambert: Preoperative assessment 4: Barry Lambert and Nurai Masip: Preoperative preparation 5: Richard Craig: Anaesthetic Equipment 6: Nurai Masip and Barry Lambert: Induction 7: Nurai Masip: Intraoperative care 8: Nurai Masip: Postoperative care Section 3: Practical procedures 9: Richard Craig: Advanced airway management 10: Richard Craig: Advanced vascular access 11: Steve Roberts: Regional anaesthesia Section 4: Pain management 12: Acute Pain Service, Alder Hey Children's NHS Foundation Trust, Liverpool: Pain and sedation Section 5: Medical and surgical specialties 13: Phil Arnold: Neonatal anaesthesia 14: Steve Roberts: Day case surgery 15: Phil Arnold: Cardiothoracic surgery 16: Ed Carver: Dental and oral surgery 17: Kate Thomas: ENT Surgery 18: Naveen Raj: General surgery and urology 19: Ed Carver and Doug Johnson: Maxillofacial, craniofacial and cleft surgery 20: Naveen Murali: Medical specialties 21: Elizabeth Wright: Neurosurgery 22: Naveen Raj: Orthopaedic surgery 23: Anne Hunt: Ophthalmology surgery 24: Laura Bowes: Radiology 25: Doug Johnson: Plastic surgery Section 6: Syndromes and diseases 26: Anthony Moores: Comorbidities and Syndromes Section 7: Resuscitation, transfer and medical emergencies 27: North West and North Wales Paediatric Transport Service: Medical Emergencies 28: North West and North Wales Paediatric Transport Service: Stabilizing the critically ill child in a General Hospital 29: North West and North Wales Paediatric Transport Service: Resuscitation

...this book's main appeal is as a pocket size quick reference guide, providing an excellent summary of current practice, that can be carried everywhere by any anesthetist involved in the care of children. The book covers a vast curriculum in a shell and makes essential reading for trainees, general anesthetists managing children in nonspecialist hospitals, and anyone aspiring to become a pediatric anesthetist.