Leslie Wise – författare

This book series is aimed not only at the surgical trainee preparing for the American Surgical Boards, but will also be equally attractive for those preparing for the Royal Colleges' examination in the UK, and other higher examinations elsewhere. It will be most valuable reading before the oral examinations, providing the candidate with important insights and perspective and broadening his scope of knowledge with a "user friendly" and concise text. It will furthermore appeal to the practicing surgeon who has only a limited amount of time to read. Residents in training and the "thinking" medical student will also find this book useful and fun to read because it will convey a large body of knowledge in a highly concentrated fashion. In addition, the proposed book will serve as an ideal source to prepare for teaching rounds or seminars on "controversies".

"When a thing ceases to be a subject of controversy, it ceases to be a subject of interest. " WILLIAM HAZLITT (1778-1830) This is the fourth volume in a series which we started in 1997. In 1976, Varco and Delaney edited a "surgical bestseller" entitled Controversy in Surgery. This was fol­ lowed by a second volume in 1985. The immense success of these books among both surgical trainees and experienced surgeons, and their wide international ap­ peal, supported the editors'' notion that a view of controversy is integral to teach­ ing. However, despite major advances in surgical science and practice, no other similar publication has since been put together with the objective of addressing major controversies in surgery. The aim of this series is to address such deficiency by covering the most crucial current controversies in general, vascular and trauma surgery. Since almost everything is controversial in surgery, we will be able to tackle different issues almost each year. The editors have selected a nationally/internationally recognized authority for each topic. Most books available today are either "North American:'' "British-Com­ monwealth" or "British-European:'' contributing to the constant transatlantic rival­ ry. Our series specifically aims to bridge this "culture gap" and includes North American, British, European, and other authors while maintaining a cohesive structure. This will hopefully also broaden the appeal of such a book across both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.