This is the third edition of P-J Wormald's book on endoscopic sinus surgery, which has proven to be very popular since the first edition was published. The book focuses on surgical techniques and operative anatomy. The descriptions are easily followed and use clearly defined steps to describe the operations. The excellent illustrations, CT and MRI scans, and intra- and post-operative photographs are a valuable resource and learning tool for any ENT surgeon interested in endoscopic sinus surgery.
The book has expanded, with chapters on endoscopic skull base and intracranial surgery techniques providing a valuable addition to what is now more than simply an endoscopic sinus surgery text. The anatomic cadaveric dissection photographs by Dr Rowan Valentine are superb, and provide a significant addition to the book as they substantially complement the anatomical descriptions in the text and improve understanding of the anatomy in particular regarding expanded endonasal approaches.
The chapters on the anterior cranial fossa, clival and cranio-cervical junction are a valuable resource for anyone interested in endoscopic skull base surgery. There is a very important chapter on management of vascular injury, which describes techniques for controlling bleeding using a two-surgeon method to maintain the surgical field and control bleeding with a muscle patch and/or the use of specialised instruments for direct vascular repair. However, the U-clip has already been replaced by a different clip (as I was advised at the last surgical course I attended), which shows just how rapidly the field of endoscopic skull base surgery is progressing.
I felt that a description of the operating room set-up for endoscopic pituitary surgery, including patient preparation and positioning, with photos, could improve the chapter on pituitary surgery. The videos on pituitary surgery could be updated, as I believe the author now performs a superiorly based dural flap. The chapter on CSF leak closure could be expanded to include a section on how to raise the intranasal pedicled flaps, with accompanying videos, and the uses of this technique; this would allow readers to appreciate its use in skull base defect closure, in the later chapters.
Overall this is an excellent book which I would highly recommend to both trainees and practising consultant otolaryngology surgeons alike as a valuable resource for their library.
