Foreword

Article Outline

• Copyright

The management of the trauma patient, from initial assessment to definitive treatment and postoperative care, is fraught with pitfalls. In this issue of Current Problems in Surgery Drs. Mackersie and Dicker, from the Department of Surgery at the University of California in San Francisco and the Trauma Service at the San Francisco General Hospital, write authoritatively about this topic. They begin with consideration of general factors that influence trauma care, such as systems failures and human errors. The majority of the monograph is devoted to potential pitfalls that occur in each phase of management; initial assessment, operation of the trauma patient, the postoperative period, including management in the intensive care unit, and the recovery phase. There is much to be learned here, especially for surgical house officers, who will find that this monograph prepares them well for their experiences in the emergency room and on the trauma service.