This publication is intended to provide backup for professional medical explanations to patients who are anticipating surgical procedures. The book is a loose-leaf production with a format that presents for each procedure a description, reasons it is performed, the risks and benefits, and possible complications. In many instances the preparatory diagnostic studies are also described.
Notable throughout is a failure to refer to the risk of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome that may be associated with many of the procedures described. In several instances, the classic signs and symptoms of serious postprocedural complications are ignored. In the segments on esophagoscopy and colonoscopy, for example, no reference is made to the signs and symptoms of perforation.
The timetable of events is given for some of the procedures, notably laparoscopy, and would have been beneficial in other endoscopic procedures as well.
Under the section on computed tomographic scanning, no mention is made of contrast