If you have wondered what I have been doing for the last several months, I am here to answer that I have been working on a book. The book’s working title is “The Vasopressor & Inotrope Handbook: A Practical Guide for Healthcare Professionals.” Writing this book has been on my to-do list for over four years. The Ventilator Book by Dr. Will Owens, which I so often promote, was one of the inspirations for the book because it is highly informative and easy to read. My goal with this book is to present the information and literature regarding vasopressors and inotropes in that format. Something that anyone in the field of healthcare can pick up and learn a thing or two. I promise that anyone can learn something from this book. No matter how much of an expert one is on the topic, something will be gained. I have learned so much just by writing it. The journey has been incredible thus far.
The Content
The big deal here will be the content. I will discuss the vasopressors and inotropes we regularly use in our hospitals and some we may have just heard of. These include norepinephrine, epinephrine, phenylephrine, vasopressin, terlipressin, selepressin, dopamine, angiotensin II, midodrine, isoproterenol, dobutamine, milrinone, levosimendan, methylene blue, and hydroxocobalamin. At this time, I am still determining whether to include certain vasopressors that are not used in the United States and are poorly represented in clinical trials. Everything in this book is evidence-based. Everything will have a reference to read the data for yourself.
Whenever we go through the motions of caring for critically ill patients, we often wonder why we do x instead of y. I have personally gone through all the data (I have read over 400 papers to create this book) to obtain the answers to the questions we have asked ourselves. At the time of this writing, I plan on running through the chapters in a question-and-answer format. For example, I may have found the answer to the age-old question of whether we should use weight-based dosing in the norepinephrine chapter. I have obtained the data on whether vasopressin should be titrated off or abruptly discontinued.
I do not plan to explain dosages in a manner that can be found in any reference manual. For example, what dose to start norepinephrine? Every how many minutes should we increase the dose? How many mcg/min of mcg/kg/min should we wean norepinephrine? Hospital policies with their references support those practice patterns. This is not that type of book. Some tables exist in numerous review articles comparing the different vasopressors and inotropes. To avoid getting dinged for copyright issues, I will provide citations to the articles where you can obtain those awesome tables for free.
I want some of your feedback about the citations. Everything in this book will have citations where you can read the source papers. After all, I did not write any of these studies except for one. I plan on listing the citations in something other than the actual book. That would increase the length of the book significantly as well as disturb the flow. Instead, I plan on having links and QR codes at the end of each chapter to separate pages on my website where you can click the links. That would be similar to how I cite work on my website.
The Length
The book will be between 100 and 120 pages when it is all said and done. The size will be standard 6 by 9, which is small enough to fit in a white coat pocket. I will print out some test batches in the upcoming days to see whether I should go with size 10, 11, or 12 font. One can find many recommendations when looking up typical non-fiction book formats. Let me know if you have any suggestions on font sizes.
The Publication Date
October 13th will be the date the book should be published. That was my late father’s birthday and has an incredibly special meaning. He always pushed me to pursue any of my ambitions; this text is one of them. This also means that, at the time of this writing, I only have 37 days to go before I submit it. The due date to submit the manuscript is October 9th.
Where will you be able to purchase it?
I will publish it through Kindle Direct Publishing, an Amazon company. That means you can purchase the paperback, Kindle version, and possibly even a hardcover version. I plan on recording it as an Audible book as well.
What will the price point be?
It should be around $25. I need to sort out how many pages the book will be because the length affects the cost. More pages mean more cost. I have created so much content for free that I do not want to charge an exorbitant amount of money for the book. It being accessible financially will hopefully mean more people can get their hands on it.
Any other books?
There’s an idea for a second book circulating in my head. I’d likely recruit a co-author for the next book. That’s all for now. More content is coming soon. As always, I’d like to thank you for your support and for sticking with me on this crazy journey.
