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Surgical management
BOOK REVIEWS
The History of
Endocrine Surgery Edited by Richard B. Welbourn. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1990.409 pages. $75
As endocrine surgery has emerged as a more specialized discipline, SO has the need for a publication summarizing significant contributions to the field. To fill this need, Dr. Welbourn and his colleagues have published The History of Endocrine Surgery. The authors provide a well-referenced history, initially presenting an overview of the evolution of endocrine surgery from its origins through the 1980s. Subsequent chapters develop each specific organ system, with an added section of related topics including hormonal cancer therapy, renal hypertension, and surgical stress. By supplementing scientific references with information obtained from colleagues and personal communications, the authors provide both historic events and some insight into the thought processes involved in their development. A summary of all events is chronologically listed in an appendix for easy reference. Further facilitating the use of this text as a resource is a unique system of cross references. Each paragraph is keyed by a number corresponding to its position in the chapter. All related topics refer to these numbers, simplifying location of correlated material in the text. The same codes are used for identification in the subject and author indices. Overall, this is a fairly readable and informative text, which provides an inclusive summary of major contributions and events. This book would be a welcome addition to the libraries of endocrine surgeons, endocrinologists,
550
THE AMERICAN
JOURNAL
or anvone interested in the history of this iiteresting field. Anne R. Thompson, M.D. Department of Surgery University of Louisville Louisville, KY
Surgical Management Edited by Niall J. O’Higgins, Geoflrey D. Chisholm, and Robin C.N. Williamson. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1991. 987 pages. $120
The authors of Surgical Management worked to present a book that is “easy to read,” and they succeeded. Their stated goal was to provide further guidance for today’s surgical trainee, who is expected already “to have a solid foundation of knowledge and experience in surgery-in-general.” Thus, although the medical student will find many of the discussions readily understandable and therefore valuable, this volume has been designed primarily for the more surgically sophisticated reader. This book is designed for general surgeons. For example, lesions of the thorax, with the exception of the heart; lesions of the head. with the exception of trauma; and lesions of the female reproductive system are electively omitted. On the other hand, the material on urologic problems is excellent and quite extensive (104 pages), much more so than might be accorded urology in a book published in the United States of similar intent. This difference mav reflect the fact that the surgical disiipline of urology has long remained a more integral segment of general surgery in Great Britain than the separate specialty position, apart from general surgery, that urology occupies in the United States. A particularly interesting short chapter is entitled “Surgery in Tropical
OF SURGERY
VOLUME
167
MAY
1994
Countries.” Many of the lesions considered in this chapter would be found in various sections of the major textbooks of surgery developed in the United States, but these lesions are not usually grouped together. The three editors, located in Dublin, Edinburgh, and London, respectively, have been joined by many other contributors in producing the 58 chapters. The volume is presented in seven sections: (1) Principles of Surgical Care; (2) Trauma; (3) Alimentary Tract; (4) Urogenital Tract; (5) Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery; (6) Breast and Endocrine Surgery; and (7) Head, Neck, and Skin. The “urogenital tract” is limited to male genital organs. The “thoracic and cardiovascular surgery” is limited solely to cardiac and vascular surgery; no lung, mediastinal, or thoracic cage material is included. Here again, in Great Britain, general thoracic surgery is usually more sharply segregated from general surgery, commonly even in a separate specialized hospital, than it is in the United States. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy will doubtless be accorded additional space in the next edition, as the use of gallstone lithotripsy may well decline. The print is large enough to be read easily, and the illustrations are clear and appropriate. The selected but limited references appear at the end of the particular topic discussed, rather than being grouped at the end of a section. The index appears to be accurate, sufficiently detailed, and appropriately cross-referenced. In all, this fine book has achieved the objective stated in the preface, namely, to provide up-to-date information and guidance primarily for the general surgical trainee and the practicing surgeon. James D. Hardy, MD Jackson, Mississippi
The History of
Endocrine Surgery Edited by Richard B. Welbourn. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 1990.409 pages. $75
As endocrine surgery has emerged as a more specialized discipline, SO has the need for a publication summarizing significant contributions to the field. To fill this need, Dr. Welbourn and his colleagues have published The History of Endocrine Surgery. The authors provide a well-referenced history, initially presenting an overview of the evolution of endocrine surgery from its origins through the 1980s. Subsequent chapters develop each specific organ system, with an added section of related topics including hormonal cancer therapy, renal hypertension, and surgical stress. By supplementing scientific references with information obtained from colleagues and personal communications, the authors provide both historic events and some insight into the thought processes involved in their development. A summary of all events is chronologically listed in an appendix for easy reference. Further facilitating the use of this text as a resource is a unique system of cross references. Each paragraph is keyed by a number corresponding to its position in the chapter. All related topics refer to these numbers, simplifying location of correlated material in the text. The same codes are used for identification in the subject and author indices. Overall, this is a fairly readable and informative text, which provides an inclusive summary of major contributions and events. This book would be a welcome addition to the libraries of endocrine surgeons, endocrinologists,
550
THE AMERICAN
JOURNAL
or anvone interested in the history of this iiteresting field. Anne R. Thompson, M.D. Department of Surgery University of Louisville Louisville, KY
Surgical Management Edited by Niall J. O’Higgins, Geoflrey D. Chisholm, and Robin C.N. Williamson. Oxford: Butterworth-Heinemann, 1991. 987 pages. $120
The authors of Surgical Management worked to present a book that is “easy to read,” and they succeeded. Their stated goal was to provide further guidance for today’s surgical trainee, who is expected already “to have a solid foundation of knowledge and experience in surgery-in-general.” Thus, although the medical student will find many of the discussions readily understandable and therefore valuable, this volume has been designed primarily for the more surgically sophisticated reader. This book is designed for general surgeons. For example, lesions of the thorax, with the exception of the heart; lesions of the head. with the exception of trauma; and lesions of the female reproductive system are electively omitted. On the other hand, the material on urologic problems is excellent and quite extensive (104 pages), much more so than might be accorded urology in a book published in the United States of similar intent. This difference mav reflect the fact that the surgical disiipline of urology has long remained a more integral segment of general surgery in Great Britain than the separate specialty position, apart from general surgery, that urology occupies in the United States. A particularly interesting short chapter is entitled “Surgery in Tropical
OF SURGERY
VOLUME
167
MAY
1994
Countries.” Many of the lesions considered in this chapter would be found in various sections of the major textbooks of surgery developed in the United States, but these lesions are not usually grouped together. The three editors, located in Dublin, Edinburgh, and London, respectively, have been joined by many other contributors in producing the 58 chapters. The volume is presented in seven sections: (1) Principles of Surgical Care; (2) Trauma; (3) Alimentary Tract; (4) Urogenital Tract; (5) Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery; (6) Breast and Endocrine Surgery; and (7) Head, Neck, and Skin. The “urogenital tract” is limited to male genital organs. The “thoracic and cardiovascular surgery” is limited solely to cardiac and vascular surgery; no lung, mediastinal, or thoracic cage material is included. Here again, in Great Britain, general thoracic surgery is usually more sharply segregated from general surgery, commonly even in a separate specialized hospital, than it is in the United States. Laparoscopic cholecystectomy will doubtless be accorded additional space in the next edition, as the use of gallstone lithotripsy may well decline. The print is large enough to be read easily, and the illustrations are clear and appropriate. The selected but limited references appear at the end of the particular topic discussed, rather than being grouped at the end of a section. The index appears to be accurate, sufficiently detailed, and appropriately cross-referenced. In all, this fine book has achieved the objective stated in the preface, namely, to provide up-to-date information and guidance primarily for the general surgical trainee and the practicing surgeon. James D. Hardy, MD Jackson, Mississippi