What is the Handbook of Inpatient Endocrinology, 2nd Edition?
Handbook of Inpatient Endocrinology, 2nd Edition, is a concise clinical reference edited by Rajesh K. Garg, James V. Hennessey, and Jeffrey R. Garber. It addresses endocrine disorders encountered in hospitalized patients, including diabetes, thyroid disease, adrenal conditions, electrolyte abnormalities, and perioperative care. It is intended for endocrinologists, hospitalists, specialists, and other inpatient healthcare professionals.
Introduction
Endocrinology is often associated with outpatient consultations, long-term diabetes management, thyroid follow-up, and chronic hormonal disorders. However, endocrine medicine takes on a different level of complexity in the hospital.
Acute illness can alter hormone concentrations, expose previously unrecognized endocrine disease, and create urgent problems requiring rapid diagnosis and coordinated treatment.
Patients admitted to medical, surgical, cardiac, obstetric, or critical care units may develop hyperglycemic crises, severe electrolyte disturbances, adrenal insufficiency, thyroid emergencies, or complications related to endocrine surgery. Managing these conditions requires more than familiarity with outpatient treatment protocols.
Clinicians must understand how acute illness, medications, surgery, nutritional support, and changes in fluid balance influence endocrine assessment and treatment.
The Handbook of Inpatient Endocrinology, 2nd Edition, addresses this specialized area of clinical practice. Edited by Rajesh K. Garg, James V. Hennessey, and Jeffrey R. Garber, the book is designed as a concise, easy-to-navigate guide for healthcare professionals caring for hospitalized patients with endocrine disorders.
The editors emphasize that inpatient endocrinology differs from ambulatory practice and that the transition from hospital care to outpatient follow-up is an important part of patient management. The book therefore combines discussion of acute endocrine problems with attention to ongoing assessment and post-discharge care.
This review explores the book's documented contents, educational structure, and potential value for medical students, residents, fellows, hospitalists, specialists, nurses, pharmacists, and medical educators. It focuses on what the book covers and how its organization may support clinical learning, without attributing unsupported features or invented reviews to the publication.
Book Overview
- Edition: Second Edition
- Editors: Rajesh K. Garg, James V. Hennessey, and Jeffrey R. Garber
- Publisher: Springer Nature Switzerland AG
- Publication year: 2025
- Specialty: Inpatient endocrinology
- ISBN: 978-3-031-86098-0
- eBook ISBN: 978-3-031-86099-7
The book's second edition is organized around the practical challenges of endocrine medicine in hospitalized patients. Its editorial team includes clinicians affiliated with institutions such as Harbor–UCLA Medical Center and Harvard Medical School.
The contributor list also includes specialists working in endocrinology, diabetes, metabolism, nephrology, surgery, obstetrics, and related clinical disciplines.
The book is intended primarily for professionals who provide inpatient clinical care. The preface specifically identifies endocrinology fellows and faculty, medical specialists, primary care physicians, surgical and obstetrical specialists, and hospitalists as part of its audience.
What This Book Covers
The Handbook of Inpatient Endocrinology, 2nd Edition, covers a broad range of endocrine and metabolic problems encountered in hospital practice.
Its 29 numbered chapters are arranged by clinical subject, beginning with pituitary emergencies and extending through thyroid disorders, calcium and bone disease, adrenal conditions, diabetes, and electrolyte abnormalities.
The contents show that the book is not limited to a single endocrine organ or disease category. Instead, it provides a broad inpatient reference that spans acute presentations, diagnostic evaluation, treatment considerations, perioperative management, and selected aspects of follow-up.
1. Pituitary Disorders and Hypopituitarism
The opening chapters address pituitary apoplexy, hypopituitarism, and postoperative care following pituitary surgery.
The pituitary apoplexy chapter includes sections on definition, precipitating factors, diagnosis, endocrine assessment, imaging, corticosteroid treatment, surgery versus conservative management, postoperative monitoring, and follow-up after discharge. This organization reflects the clinical importance of recognizing acute pituitary disease and assessing its consequences for hormone production and neurological function.
The subsequent chapter on hypopituitarism discusses causes such as mass lesions, traumatic brain injury, radiation therapy, medications, hypophysitis, systemic disease, genetic disorders, and vascular events. It also addresses the assessment of anterior and posterior pituitary function, hospital diagnosis, treatment, and discharge management.
These chapters provide a foundation for understanding why pituitary dysfunction can be particularly important in hospitalized patients, especially when adrenal or water-balance abnormalities are present.
2. Thyroid Emergencies and Hospital Thyroid Management
Thyroid medicine is a major part of the book. The listed chapters cover severe thyrotoxicosis and thyroid storm, myxedema coma, unusual thyroid-stimulating hormone results, management of hospitalized patients with thyroid dysfunction, and perioperative care in patients undergoing nonthyroid surgery.
A separate chapter examines thyroid problems in patients with cardiac disease. Its contents include thyrotoxicosis, hypothyroidism, cardiovascular effects, cardiac arrhythmias, electrocardiographic changes, congestive heart failure, angina, amiodarone-related thyroid problems, and thyroid hormone treatment in cardiac failure and cardiac surgery.
This arrangement is particularly relevant to clinicians who encounter abnormal thyroid tests during admission or who must evaluate thyroid disease in patients with significant cardiovascular comorbidity. The book's chapter structure also makes it possible to approach thyroid disease according to the clinical setting rather than treating every thyroid abnormality as an outpatient problem.
3. Calcium, Parathyroid, and Bone Disorders
The book includes several chapters focused on mineral metabolism and skeletal health:
- Severe hypercalcemia.
- Hypocalcemia.
- Perioperative evaluation of primary hyperparathyroidism.
- Management of osteoporosis in the inpatient setting.
- Calcium disorders in renal failure, including patients receiving dialysis.
- Hypomagnesemia.
The chapter on severe hypercalcemia is organized around presentation, etiology, diagnostic approach, treatment, and summary.
The osteoporosis chapter addresses fragility fractures, laboratory evaluation, inpatient management, nonpharmacological and pharmacological interventions, continuation of prehospitalization osteoporosis medication, pain management, prevention of future fractures, and follow-up after discharge.
Together, these topics demonstrate the book's attention to endocrine problems that frequently intersect with surgery, nephrology, geriatrics, acute medicine, and hospital-based medication management.
4. Sodium, Potassium, and Fluid-Balance Problems
Electrolyte disorders are represented by chapters on disorders of serum sodium concentration and inpatient management of hyperkalemia.
These subjects are important within inpatient endocrinology because electrolyte abnormalities may accompany endocrine disease, renal dysfunction, medication effects, or changes in fluid balance. The inclusion of these chapters also broadens the book's usefulness beyond traditional gland-based endocrinology.
The table of contents identifies serum sodium disorders and hyperkalemia as distinct clinical subjects, while the book's wider coverage includes calcium and magnesium disturbances.
5. Adrenal Disorders and Adrenal Surgery
The adrenal section includes suspected adrenocortical deficiency, Cushing's syndrome, adrenalectomy, pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma, and primary aldosteronism.
The chapter on suspected adrenocortical deficiency is subdivided into physiological considerations, normal cortisol levels, primary and secondary adrenal insufficiency, clinical presentation and diagnosis, adrenal insufficiency in critically ill patients, treatment, stress dosing, and adrenal crisis.
The inclusion of adrenalectomy and adrenal hormone-secreting disorders adds a surgical and perioperative dimension. These chapters are relevant to clinicians involved in preoperative assessment, postoperative monitoring, endocrine evaluation, and the management of patients with possible adrenal hormone disturbances.
6. Diabetes and Inpatient Glycemic Management
Diabetes occupies a substantial portion of the book's later chapters. The listed topics include:
- Treatment of hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients without hyperglycemic emergencies.
- Hypoglycemia in patients with diabetes.
- Hypoglycemia in patients without diabetes.
- Diabetic ketoacidosis and hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state.
- Management of preexisting diabetes and gestational diabetes during hospitalization.
- Diabetes-related technologies for inpatient management.
- Severe hypertriglyceridemia in hospitalized patients.
The diabetes technology chapter specifically covers insulin pumps, continuous glucose monitoring systems, and hybrid closed-loop systems. This is a notable inclusion in a reference devoted to inpatient care because it addresses technology-assisted diabetes management within the hospital environment.
The book also distinguishes ordinary inpatient hyperglycemia from major hyperglycemic emergencies and separately considers hypoglycemia in people with and without diabetes. This organization can help readers identify the different clinical questions that arise when glucose abnormalities are detected during admission.
7. Perioperative and Transitional Care
Perioperative management appears throughout the contents, including postoperative pituitary care, primary hyperparathyroidism evaluation before surgery, adrenalectomy, and management of thyroid dysfunction in patients undergoing nonthyroid operations.
The preface also emphasizes the importance of bridging care from the inpatient to the outpatient setting. This means the book's stated purpose extends beyond immediate stabilization: it is also concerned with what happens after the acute hospitalization, including reassessment and ongoing endocrine care.
For healthcare professionals, this focus is particularly relevant because endocrine management often continues after discharge, and inpatient findings may require subsequent specialist assessment.
Key Features of the Book
The strongest documented educational features of the Handbook of Inpatient Endocrinology, 2nd Edition, include:
- Focused inpatient perspective: The book is specifically designed for endocrine problems arising in hospitalized patients rather than general outpatient endocrinology.
- Concise, easy-to-navigate format: The preface describes a handbook that presents salient clinical points alongside more detailed information.
- Broad endocrine coverage: Pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, calcium, bone, electrolyte, and diabetes-related disorders are all represented.
- Acute and complex clinical problems: The contents include thyroid storm, myxedema coma, pituitary apoplexy, diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state, and severe hypercalcemia.
- Perioperative relevance: Several chapters address endocrine assessment and management before or after surgery.
- Multidisciplinary applicability: The intended readership includes endocrinologists, hospitalists, surgeons, obstetrical specialists, primary care physicians, and other medical professionals.
- Attention to care transitions: The book's stated objectives include helping clinicians bridge inpatient treatment with outpatient follow-up.
Suggested further reading: The preface indicates that established clinical approaches are emphasized, with suggestions for additional reading.
Who Should Read This Book?
Medical Students
Medical students interested in endocrinology, internal medicine, or hospital-based care may use the book to become familiar with the range of endocrine conditions encountered during admission. Its organ-system organization can help learners connect endocrine physiology with clinical problems such as electrolyte abnormalities, acute glucose disturbances, and perioperative endocrine disease.
However, the book's intended audience is primarily healthcare professionals providing inpatient care. Students may therefore benefit most when using it alongside foundational textbooks and supervised clinical teaching.
Residents and Interns
Residents and interns are among the readers most likely to benefit from a focused inpatient reference. During hospital rotations, they may encounter abnormal thyroid tests, hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, sodium disorders, suspected adrenal insufficiency, or patients undergoing endocrine surgery.
The book's concise structure and emphasis on clinical points may make it useful for preparing for rounds, reviewing a problem encountered on the ward, or organizing questions for consultation with an endocrinology team.
Endocrinology Fellows and Specialists
Endocrinology fellows and practicing specialists are explicitly included in the book's target audience. The book's scope covers several areas of endocrine consultation, including acute pituitary disease, adrenal emergencies, thyroid disorders, diabetes management, and perioperative care.
For specialists, its value lies in the breadth of inpatient topics assembled in one reference. The available material does not establish that every chapter provides a complete treatment protocol or comprehensive specialist-level review, so its precise depth should be assessed chapter by chapter.
Researchers and Medical Educators
Researchers and educators interested in inpatient endocrinology may appreciate the book's broad clinical scope and its collection of chapters addressing specialized hospital problems. The contributor list includes clinicians from several academic and hospital-based institutions.
The book may also provide a useful framework for teaching discussions about endocrine emergencies, inpatient diagnostic reasoning, and the relationship between acute treatment and follow-up care. Its suitability for a specific research project or curriculum would depend on the particular chapter and the depth of evidence required.
Exam Candidates
Residents and trainees preparing for examinations in internal medicine or endocrinology may use the book to review the clinical topics represented in its contents. Chapters on diabetic ketoacidosis, thyroid emergencies, adrenal insufficiency, calcium disorders, and pituitary disease correspond to important areas of hospital-based endocrine medicine.
Why This Book Is Useful
1. It Addresses the Difference Between Inpatient and Outpatient Endocrinology
One of the book's central strengths is its clear focus on the hospital setting. The preface explains that inpatient endocrinology differs from ambulatory practice and has become more complex. It also identifies the transition from hospital to outpatient care as an important clinical responsibility.
This focus gives the book a practical identity. Rather than approaching endocrine disease solely through long-term disease management, it concentrates on problems that arise when patients are acutely ill, undergoing procedures, or receiving hospital-based treatments.
2. It Brings Multiple Clinical Areas Together
Hospital endocrine consultations frequently involve overlapping specialties. A patient with thyroid disease may also have cardiac disease. A patient with electrolyte abnormalities may have renal failure. A person with diabetes may require surgery, nutritional support, or treatment for an acute hyperglycemic crisis.
The book brings these related subjects together within one volume. Its chapters span endocrine emergencies, metabolic disturbances, surgical care, diabetes technologies, and complex inpatient presentations. This breadth may help readers recognize the connections between endocrine disorders and other hospital services.
3. It Emphasizes Practical Clinical Guidance
The editors describe the book as a concise guide that highlights important clinical points and provides more detailed information on those points. This format is potentially useful when a clinician needs to orient themselves to a particular problem without beginning with a large general endocrinology textbook.
The precise practical value will vary by chapter. The available material supports the book's stated goal of providing guidance, but it does not establish that every chapter includes algorithms, clinical checklists, dosage tables, or decision-support tools.
4. It Includes Perioperative and Post-Discharge Considerations
The book does not treat hospitalization as an isolated event. Its preface specifically mentions perioperative management and the need to bridge inpatient and outpatient care.
This is relevant to endocrine medicine because hospital treatment may be followed by reassessment of hormone function, medication adjustment, specialist review, or ongoing management after discharge. The contents reinforce this emphasis through chapters on postoperative pituitary care, adrenalectomy, thyroid disease around surgery, and follow-up after acute endocrine conditions.
5. It Can Support Efficient Topic-Based Learning
The book's chapter arrangement makes it possible to select a subject according to the clinical problem at hand. A learner can move directly to a chapter on hypoglycemia, hyperkalemia, suspected adrenal insufficiency, severe hypercalcemia, or pituitary apoplexy.
This organization may be helpful for ward-based learning, consultation preparation, and targeted revision. Nevertheless, claims about faster learning, improved examination scores, or superior clinical outcomes are not supported by the available book material and should not be assumed.
Table of Contents Overview
The second edition contains 29 numbered chapters followed by an index. The major sections and topics are summarized below.
Chapter guide
Major topics in the second edition
1–3
- Pituitary medicine
- Pituitary apoplexy, hypopituitarism, and postoperative pituitary surgery management.
4–9
- Thyroid disorders
- Thyroid storm, myxedema coma, abnormal TSH results, hospitalized thyroid dysfunction, perioperative thyroid management, and thyroid disease in cardiac patients.
10–14
- Calcium, parathyroid, and bone
- Severe hypercalcemia, hypocalcemia, primary hyperparathyroidism, inpatient osteoporosis, and calcium disorders in renal failure.
15–16
- Electrolyte disorders
- Serum sodium disorders and inpatient hyperkalemia management.
17–21
- Adrenal and related disorders
- Adrenocortical deficiency, Cushing's syndrome, adrenalectomy, pheochromocytoma and paraganglioma, and primary aldosteronism.
22–28
- Diabetes and metabolic medicine
- Inpatient hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, diabetic ketoacidosis, hyperosmolar hyperglycemic state, diabetes during pregnancy and hospitalization, diabetes technologies, and severe hypertriglyceridemia.
29
- Additional metabolic disorder
- Hypomagnesemia.
Strengths of the Book
A clearly defined specialty focus. The book concentrates on inpatient endocrinology, a setting that the editors describe as distinct from ambulatory care. This gives the publication a specific role within endocrine medical education.
A broad range of clinically relevant topics. The contents include endocrine emergencies, metabolic abnormalities, diabetes management, surgical care, and selected problems involving renal and cardiac disease. The scope is broad enough to serve readers across several hospital specialties.
A practical organizational approach. The preface emphasizes concise presentation, easy navigation, salient clinical points, and further reading. These stated design goals are well suited to a handbook intended for clinical guidance.
Attention to transitions in care. The inclusion of postoperative management and follow-up topics, together with the editors' emphasis on inpatient-to-outpatient continuity, adds an important dimension to the book's clinical purpose.
Academic multidisciplinary authorship. The contributor list includes professionals affiliated with recognized medical schools, hospitals, and specialist divisions. This demonstrates that the book draws on a broad group of clinical contributors, although contributor credentials alone do not establish the quality of every individual chapter.
Limitations
A balanced review should also identify limitations without inventing shortcomings that the publication does not document.
- The level of detail may vary by chapter. The book is described as concise, but the available material does not establish how extensively each topic is covered.
- It is not a general endocrinology textbook. Its emphasis is inpatient care, so readers seeking a comprehensive introduction to endocrine physiology, outpatient disease management, or every endocrine condition may need additional textbooks.
- Not specifically identified as an examination manual. The available contents do not establish the presence of board-style questions, mock examinations, or dedicated exam-preparation sections.
- No independent reader evaluation is available here. The provided material does not establish reader ratings, formal comparative reviews, or measured educational outcomes.
- Clinical recommendations require contextual interpretation. The book is a clinical reference, but the appropriate application of any recommendation depends on the relevant chapter, patient context, local practice, and current clinical guidance.
These limitations do not diminish the book's documented purpose. They simply clarify how readers should position it within a broader medical learning and clinical reference collection.
Comparison With Similar Books
The Handbook of Inpatient Endocrinology, 2nd Edition, is superior to another textbook, more comprehensive than a particular reference, or more effective for examinations. Its documented distinguishing characteristic is its dedicated focus on inpatient endocrine care, including acute presentations, perioperative issues, and transitions to outpatient management.
Readers comparing it with other medical references should consider:
- Whether the competing title is focused on inpatient or outpatient endocrinology.
- How extensively it addresses endocrine emergencies and hospital-based metabolic problems.
- Whether it includes perioperative and discharge-management content.
- Whether its format suits rapid clinical consultation or in-depth study.
- Whether its intended audience matches the reader's training level.
FAQs
It is a clinical handbook focused on endocrine disorders and metabolic problems encountered in hospitalized patients. Its chapters cover pituitary, thyroid, adrenal, calcium, bone, electrolyte, and diabetes-related conditions, together with perioperative and follow-up considerations.
The book is edited by Rajesh K. Garg, James V. Hennessey, and Jeffrey R. Garber.
It is intended for healthcare professionals involved in inpatient care, including endocrinology fellows and faculty, medical specialists, primary care physicians, surgical and obstetrical specialists, and hospitalists. Medical students, residents, nurses, pharmacists, and researchers may also find selected chapters relevant to their educational or clinical interests.
The book covers inpatient endocrinology, including pituitary medicine, thyroid disorders, adrenal disease, diabetes, calcium and bone disorders, electrolyte disturbances, and selected metabolic conditions. Its contents also address perioperative endocrine care and conditions involving hospitalized patients with cardiac or renal disease.
Yes. Chapter 25 is titled “Diabetic Ketoacidosis and Hyperosmolar Hyperglycemic State.” The book also includes separate chapters on inpatient hyperglycemia, hypoglycemia, diabetes during hospitalization, and diabetes-related technologies.
Yes. The contents include chapters on severe thyrotoxicosis and thyroid storm, myxedema coma, and management of hospitalized patients with thyroid dysfunction. The book also discusses perioperative thyroid management and thyroid disease in patients with cardiac conditions.
The book is explicitly intended in part for endocrinology fellows and faculty. Its concise format, broad inpatient coverage, and emphasis on salient clinical points may make it useful for focused learning and clinical reference. The available material does not establish that it is a dedicated board-examination preparation book.
Yes. Its contents include postoperative management after pituitary surgery, adrenalectomy, and perioperative management of thyroid disorders. The preface also emphasizes the importance of bridging inpatient and outpatient care, while individual chapters include follow-up sections.
Conclusion
Handbook of Inpatient Endocrinology, 2nd Edition, is a specialized clinical reference designed around the challenges of endocrine medicine in hospitalized patients. Edited by Rajesh K. Garg, James V. Hennessey, and Jeffrey R. Garber, it brings together 29 chapters covering pituitary disorders, thyroid emergencies, adrenal disease, calcium and bone disorders, electrolyte abnormalities, diabetes, and related metabolic conditions.
Its principal educational value lies in its focused inpatient perspective, concise stated format, broad clinical scope, and attention to perioperative and post-discharge care. These features make it a potentially useful resource for endocrinology fellows, hospitalists, residents, specialists, and other healthcare professionals who encounter endocrine problems during hospitalization.
Medical students, nurses, pharmacists, educators, and researchers may also benefit from selected chapters, depending on their learning objectives. It should be viewed as a focused inpatient reference rather than automatically assumed to be a complete general endocrinology textbook or a dedicated examination guide.
For readers seeking a clinically oriented introduction to the scope of hospital-based endocrine care, Handbook of Inpatient Endocrinology, 2nd Edition, offers a structured way to explore the major problems encountered in this important area of medicine.
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