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Oxford Textbook of Surgery Volume 3 Peter J Morris and William C Wood Oxford University Press ISBN 01926228844
Since publication of the first edition, the Oxford Textbook of Surgery has developed an excellent reputation as an authoritative, readable and very well produced surgical textbook. It is an excellent source of information for MRCS/FRCS, and as a consultant I frequently refer to my CD copy of the first edition.
The second edition has now been produced and a general increase in information is reflected in the production of the three volume series rather than two volumes. The sections in the third volume are of a very high standard, some are direct copies from the first edition, but most have been significantly revised, re-written or are new, for example, the section on lung cancer includes reference to positron emission tomography in diagnosis and there is a new section on lung transplantation. There are extensive revisions of the sections on congenital foot disorders and tropical disease. There is a new section on the genetics of cancer and gene therapy, and the topic of cancer chemotherapy is extensively revised.
This is a book that should be in the library of every general and teaching hospital. It probably costs more than many individuals would be prepared to pay for their own copy and for those who have the first edition there are probably insufficient changes to justify the purchase of the second edition. It is a resource of which all surgeons should be aware if not be regular users.
Iain M Muir, Dumfries and Galloway Royal Infirmary
Handbook of infections in surgery RC Kester Science Press ISBN 1858733839
This is a small pocket-sized book on a ring wire-bound system which allows each page to lie flat.
Chapter 1 on surgical site infections gives helpful definitions which are often muddled
in both doctors’ minds and in their communication to other member of a surgical team.
The causation of surgical site infections is emphasised and the importance of
gram-positive organisms is the commonest causative group. Also covered are antibiotic use
and resistance, host resistance and defence mechanisms after surgery.
Chapter 2 deals with risk assessment and risk factors. This chapter also covers many
topics with very useful tables for body mass index, assessment of malnutrition, obesity
and burns. Nowhere, however, is the Apache score system demonstrated although there is a
heading relating to trauma. Chapter 3 covers several of the preceding classification which
is then not put in the chapter but placed in the appendix at the back of the book.
Chapters 4 and 5 cover indications for antibiotic prophylaxis and factors covering the
choice of antibiotics in prophylaxis and types of surgery. I feel that these two chapters
could have been joined together in the previous chapter.
Again, there is some repetition in Chapter 7 in the type of post-operative surgical site infections. Diagnosis and management is new but then the antibiotics were covered in the previous chapter.
I found that Chapter 8 on surgery and the HIV positive patient to be very helpful for the management of these cases. The transmission of HIV to healthcare workers and the treatment of healthcare workers should be knowledge that everyone possesses. The literature on the treatment of HIV patients usually divides them into surgical diseases strongly associated with HIV and surgical conditions not associated with HIV but occurring in patients with HIV.
The photographs do not have enough explanation for a general audience. Nowhere does it mention surgical excision of slough which is so much cheaper and thorough than repeated placement of expensive osmotic dressings. The most interesting photograph in education terms is the treatment of chronic slough being removed by maggot larval therapy.
I feel that his book would be useful on an acute surgical admissions ward but too many repetitive parts mean that the book could have been shortened, then it would have been even more convenient to carry in one’s coat pocket.
RAB Wood, Ninewells Hospital & Medical School
