Surgery: Basic Science and Clinical Evidence (Book with CD-ROM) [Hardcover]

Jeffrey A. Norton (Editor), Philip S. Barie (Editor), Ralph R. Bollinger (Editor), Alfred E. Chang (Editor), Stephen Lowry (Editor), Sean J. Mulvihill (Editor), Harvey I. Pass (Editor), Robert W. Thompson (Editor), M.K. Shirazi (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 2000 | ISBN-10: 038798447X | ISBN-13: 978-0387984476 | Edition: 1

An up-to-the-minute, clinically oriented, and encyclopedic textbook of general surgery for all surgical residents, general surgeons, and medical students. Divided into eight sections, the text brings together the emerging leaders in surgery to concisely present and synthesize the key issues in the different surgical disciplines. Each chapter presents anatomy, physiology and associated scientific development, disease etiology and prevention, appropriate diagnostic procedures, treatment of benign and malignant disease, and well illustrated, technical discussion of how-to-do surgery. Color-coded tables summarize the evidence currently available for a wide variety of surgical treatment options. The text is augmented by a specially comisioned art program with more than 1000 illustrations to clearly depict surgical techniques. A CD-ROM packaged with the text provides a hypertext link to PubMed for every reference - invaluable for research.

Editorial Reviews

From The New England Journal of Medicine

This book brings a fresh approach to the already strong group of comprehensive textbooks in general surgery. As its title states, it emphasizes the basic science underlying the practice of surgery and the evidence supporting clinical decisions. The book tells the reader not only how to perform surgery, but why. It is a textbook and not an atlas or history of surgery, but the authors do illustrate operations with clear-cut drawings, and they document important historical landmarks.

The first section, "Care of the Surgical Patient," consists of chapters on the science underlying the practice of surgery today. Shock, inflammation, nutrition, fluid and electrolyte balance, and other basic-science topics are comprehensively discussed by first-rate, mostly mid-career academic surgical scientists. Surgical science also appears in the clinically oriented sections of the book -- on gastrointestinal and abdominal disease, endocrine surgery, vascular surgery, cardiothoracic surgery, transplantation, and oncology. The sister fields of general surgery -- such as plastic surgery and pediatric surgery -- and the associated disciplines of orthopedic surgery, neurosurgery, and other specialized fields are also well covered. The text is clearly written, and the chapters are well illustrated. There is also a unique feature: several hundred evidence-based tables. These tables allow the reader to reach conclusions on the basis of data rather than on the basis of individual authors' experience or opinions. Another feature I like is the accompanying CD-ROM (enclosed inside the back cover of the book). This disk contains all the references cited in the book and allows the reader to call up the desired reference and, when specific Internet connections are used, often the abstract and even the complete article as well.

At first, when reading this large book at home in an easy chair under a soft light, I found the type small and the weight of the book a burden. Later, in the bright light of my office and with the book resting on my desk, the legibility was fine and the weight not a problem.

Considering that the seven editors chose 130 authors to write the 93 chapters, there is some variability within the book. Overall, however, the book hangs together, with its strong basic-science orientation and its emphasis on evidence-based decision making. The vast amount of material included in the book makes it fairly priced at $119.

This book will appeal to general surgical residents and medical students. Chief residents in surgery preparing for their board examinations will find this book especially helpful, because the chapters deal in a comprehensive way with the nine major areas of general surgery identified by the American Board of Surgery. The practicing surgeon will also find the book valuable as a source of information for everyday practice and for help with unusual cases. As a senior academic surgeon, I found the chapters useful as I was preparing lectures in my own areas of surgical interest, in which I have been working for years.

Keith A. Kelly, M.D.
Copyright © 2001 Massachusetts Medical Society. All rights reserved. The New England Journal of Medicine is a registered trademark of the MMS.

Review

From the reviews:

"Jeffrey Norton, MD, and his editorial board have ushered in a new and significant era of currently available surgery textbooks... The 130 contributors constitute an excellent group of current young surgeons... In today's environment of managed care, the authors recognize the need for cost-effective surgery and the maximization of results while preserving surgical judgment and quality patient care." (Archives of Surgery)

"...Is it different from the existing textbooks of surgery? Did the authors achieve their principal goal of providing an evidence-based approach to surgical decision making? Would I recommend it to the surgical residents in my program?... the answer to all these questions is yes... the ambitious undertaking of creating an evidence-based textbook has largely succeeded and I heartily recommend it." (Journal of the American Medical Association)

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 2170 pages
• Publisher: Springer; 1 edition (August 17, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 038798447X
• ISBN-13: 978-0387984476
• Product Dimensions: 11.1 x 8.8 x 2.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,201,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

0 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars perfect science in an anti-verbouse form, June 13, 2001

By 

Reza R Hosseini (Germany) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Surgery: Basic Science and Clinical Evidence (Book with CD-ROM) (Hardcover)

If you look for useful informations and are planning to be a excellent infomed Doc, buy NORTON at once.

T h e b e s t M E D I C A L & S C I E N T I F I C & E N T E R T A I N I N G b o o k e v e r - I s w e a r