The commonest controversial problems of surgery are discussed in the text by 50 contributors from all over the country, who work in private, university, and Veterans Administration hospitals. Most of them are also "teaching" surgeons with university assignments, who write from both clinical experience and research investigation.
In each area, one of the editors elucidates the problem, which is then discussed by two or more, and sometimes as many as four, specialists. Their investigation considers the complications of duodenal ulcer, various types of polyps of the colon, approaches to repair of hiatal hernia, early operation versus intestinal decompression and delayed surgery in small intestinal obstruction, whether to use an abdominal or perineal approach to correct a prolapse of the rectum, the extent to which antibiotics should be used when operating on the intestine, and whether or not to suture the common bile duct. These are only a few of the