BOOK & MEDIA REVIEWS

Abstract

This is the third volume of a series on palliative care. This volume is divided into 4 sections of pediatric palliative care; the management of bone pain; psychopathology in patients with cancer; and skin disorders and their management. Each section is divided into an introduction of the topic followed by three chapters. The first section addresses a very important and often under-treated population for palliative care, that of pediatrics. This section begins with an excellent introduction of the pediatric palliative care field and the urgent need for treatment of these patients. The first chapter provides a review of the pharmacologic management of pediatric cancer pain. Several useful tables are included, which discuss analgesic studies performed in children with cancer, a discussion of available opioids, doses used in pediatrics, and other basic principles of analgesia. The second chapter provides an in-depth presentation on the dimensions of family functioning and the importance of working with the whole family during this difficult time. The final section includes a discussion of the treatment of symptoms other than pain in the this young population. The second section addresses the management of bone pain. The three chapters discuss the pharmacologic, radiologic, and surgical treatments of bone pain. One chapter is devoted to the bisphosphonates and other bone resorption inhibitors and includes a useful table reviewing the randomized, placebo-controlled trials of bisphosphonates in pain