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Books of interest
BOOK REVIEW
427
BOOKS OF INTEREST
A Handbook of Pediatric Surgery. By Jessie L. Ternberg, Martin J. Bell and Richard J. Bower. 202 pages, illustrated. $12.95. Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins, 1980.
Prognosis in Surgical Diseases. By Ben Eiseman. 534 pages, illustrated. $37.50. Philadelphia, Saunders, 1980.
Operative Surgery: Principles and Techniques (ed 2). Edited
Congenital Deformities of the Hand. An Atlas of Their Surgical Treatment. By Walter Blauth and Frank R.
by Paul F. Nora. 1181 pages, illustrated. $96.00. Philadelphia, Lea & Febiger, 1980.
Schneider-Sickert. 500 pages, illustrated. $230. Secaucus, New Jersey, Springer-Verlag New York, 1980.
Surgery Annual. Volume 12. Edited by Lloyd M. Nyhus. 425
Pediatric Pharmacology. Therapeutic Principles in Practice.
pages, illustrated. $33.50. New York, Appleton-CenturyCrofts, 1980.
Edited by Sumner J. Yaffe. 493 pages, illustrated. $44.50. New York, Grune & Stratton, 1980.
BOOK REVIEW
Swenson's Pediatric Surgery (ed 4). Edited by John G. Raffensperger. 957 pages, illustrated. $78.50. New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1980. In today's world of multi-authored tomes, this is a peculiar book. It contains 115 chapters and 37 contributors, but is the highly personalized work of an author whose presence permeates the jacket and intervening pages. The front cover is an affectionate and loyal tribute to the author's predecessor, who wrote the earlier two-volume editions. There follows the list of contributors, both pediatric and surgical, who complement the author in the early medical chapters and the later specialized surgical areas. The organization of the table of contents is refreshing and iconoclastic since it is not anatomic and systemic, but functional and disease oriented by frequency, pathology, etiology, and symptoms. The initial section of 100 pages entitled "Assessment and General Considerations" contains predictable chapters concerned with pre- and postoperative evaluation and care. They are concise and complete and clearly understandable. The information contained therein is basically self sufficient and provides ample founda-
tion on which to enlarge. The Genetic chapter by Nadler and Burton is particularly noteworthy. There follows a section of another 100 pages on Common Pediatric Surgical Problems, from inguinal hernia to rectal prolapse, written almost entirely by Raffensperger. The nature of these pages is characteristic of the book. These 16 chapters are organized into the customary etiology, diagnosis, and treatment, but tradition soon ceases, and we are then exposed to a highly intimate, bedside, eyeball to eyeball confrontation with a communicator who fortunately writes as he speaks. The contents are organized, thorough, pragmatic, dogmatic, highly unilateral, and above all interesting. It is an anomalous textbook because it is fun to read. The miniscule cost is an absence, at times, of alternatives, but what is presented by a most experienced clinician, doing it his way, is hardly heretic. The section on Trauma, the third 100 pages, introduces the surgical specialties by appropriate contributors. Fractures and Dislocations is a nice abstract of similar material in the standard orthopedic texts, but at times is overly sophisticated for the general and pediatric surgeon. The Genito-Urinary Trauma chapter is well written with good diagrams and a reasonable bibliography. Penetrating injuries are unfortunately not included. A great deal of material has been
427
BOOKS OF INTEREST
A Handbook of Pediatric Surgery. By Jessie L. Ternberg, Martin J. Bell and Richard J. Bower. 202 pages, illustrated. $12.95. Baltimore, Williams and Wilkins, 1980.
Prognosis in Surgical Diseases. By Ben Eiseman. 534 pages, illustrated. $37.50. Philadelphia, Saunders, 1980.
Operative Surgery: Principles and Techniques (ed 2). Edited
Congenital Deformities of the Hand. An Atlas of Their Surgical Treatment. By Walter Blauth and Frank R.
by Paul F. Nora. 1181 pages, illustrated. $96.00. Philadelphia, Lea & Febiger, 1980.
Schneider-Sickert. 500 pages, illustrated. $230. Secaucus, New Jersey, Springer-Verlag New York, 1980.
Surgery Annual. Volume 12. Edited by Lloyd M. Nyhus. 425
Pediatric Pharmacology. Therapeutic Principles in Practice.
pages, illustrated. $33.50. New York, Appleton-CenturyCrofts, 1980.
Edited by Sumner J. Yaffe. 493 pages, illustrated. $44.50. New York, Grune & Stratton, 1980.
BOOK REVIEW
Swenson's Pediatric Surgery (ed 4). Edited by John G. Raffensperger. 957 pages, illustrated. $78.50. New York, Appleton-Century-Crofts, 1980. In today's world of multi-authored tomes, this is a peculiar book. It contains 115 chapters and 37 contributors, but is the highly personalized work of an author whose presence permeates the jacket and intervening pages. The front cover is an affectionate and loyal tribute to the author's predecessor, who wrote the earlier two-volume editions. There follows the list of contributors, both pediatric and surgical, who complement the author in the early medical chapters and the later specialized surgical areas. The organization of the table of contents is refreshing and iconoclastic since it is not anatomic and systemic, but functional and disease oriented by frequency, pathology, etiology, and symptoms. The initial section of 100 pages entitled "Assessment and General Considerations" contains predictable chapters concerned with pre- and postoperative evaluation and care. They are concise and complete and clearly understandable. The information contained therein is basically self sufficient and provides ample founda-
tion on which to enlarge. The Genetic chapter by Nadler and Burton is particularly noteworthy. There follows a section of another 100 pages on Common Pediatric Surgical Problems, from inguinal hernia to rectal prolapse, written almost entirely by Raffensperger. The nature of these pages is characteristic of the book. These 16 chapters are organized into the customary etiology, diagnosis, and treatment, but tradition soon ceases, and we are then exposed to a highly intimate, bedside, eyeball to eyeball confrontation with a communicator who fortunately writes as he speaks. The contents are organized, thorough, pragmatic, dogmatic, highly unilateral, and above all interesting. It is an anomalous textbook because it is fun to read. The miniscule cost is an absence, at times, of alternatives, but what is presented by a most experienced clinician, doing it his way, is hardly heretic. The section on Trauma, the third 100 pages, introduces the surgical specialties by appropriate contributors. Fractures and Dislocations is a nice abstract of similar material in the standard orthopedic texts, but at times is overly sophisticated for the general and pediatric surgeon. The Genito-Urinary Trauma chapter is well written with good diagrams and a reasonable bibliography. Penetrating injuries are unfortunately not included. A great deal of material has been