This is the English translation of the second edition of the Atlas of General Surgery edited by a prominent German academic surgeon. The atlas is comprehensible and very well illustrated, offering students, surgical trainees and also specialist nurses the opportunity to journey through the most common surgical procedures.
Each chapter describing a specific surgical technique has a very useful introduction summarising the following points: indication, pre-operative preparation, specific risks, patient information and consent, type of anaesthesia, positioning of the patient, surgical approach, operative steps, relevant anatomy, how to deal with specific complications, and postoperative care. In surgery, details make the difference and having the opportunity to recall the key points before an operation certainly helps in optimising surgery.
The description of the specific surgical techniques is clear and schematic but lacking in detail. Furthermore, there is a paucity of references supporting the contents of the topics. Only one page is dedicated to further reading, with many books cited that are not up-to-date. This may be seen as a weak point in the book in the era of evidence-based surgery. In addition, it is not completely clear why some relevant procedures are completely missing. For instance, there is a chapter dedicated to pancreatic tail resection but not to Whipple’s procedure. In the same way, left hepatic lobe resection is described but not right or left hepatectomy. Indeed, the intention of this single-volume atlas is not to cover all the disciplines of medical surgery but to offer a rapid overview of some surgical techniques. This represents a benefit for those who need a quick summary of a specific surgical technique. On the other hand, this is probably a limitation for trained surgeons who are looking for detailed surgical descriptions.
Overall, the atlas succeeds in fulfilling its objective as a summary of the most common surgical techniques and it is suitable for medical students, surgeons in training and specialist nurses looking for an ‘all inclusive’ book as a helpful instrument in everyday practice.