The editors, with 71 contributors, have covered in a helpful and thorough manner the various problems of the acute abdominal crisis, including urological and gynecological emergencies. In the opening chapter, Ravdin gives general guidelines for handling the patient with an acute abdomen; and Bockus, after a physiologic analysis of abdominal pain, reviews the diagnostic differentiation between true abdominal and masquerading extra-abdominal lesions. After these excellent basic approaches, the reader is carried through the pitfalls of mistaken diagnosis, improper preparation for surgery, the special problems incident to infancy and old age, and the recognition and treatment of hemorrhagic and septic shock. Hodes and Stein summarize the helpful place that radiology holds in handling the acute abdominal crisis.
The portion of this text dealing with abdominal trauma in itself makes the volume worthwhile. Covered adequately are problems of the biliary tract requiring urgent surgery, acute obstructions of the small and large intestine,