This text provides the reader a starting point for the most difficult and uncommon
complications in acute care surgery. It is designed to provide options to that ubiquitous
intra-operative or bedside question Well now what do we do with this? The topics have been
chosen for the extreme difficulty of management and the surprising regularity that they present
and the lack of large volume of accumulated evidence where expert experience remains vital.
The volume editors present a list of clinical scenario's intra-operative findings and ethical
circumstances that few general surgeons in their career will see in their career. The authors
represent the most prolific surgeons in practice today. They present how they wound manage
these challenging acute care surgery problems based on their vast clinical experience. Here
these surgeons share their personal experience with the most difficult cases. The text is
divided into 4 parts. The first part is Global Patient Issues when a singular surgical problem
presents itself in a very complicated patient with an extensive list of unstable co-morbid
diseases. The second part is Specific Disease Issues. This is a surgical text and as such each
issue is an unexpected intra-operative finding and expert management. The third part is
Post-Operative Issues and as any seasoned surgeon knows is the most critical part of managing
a complicated surgical case. The last section is Challenging Ethical Scenarios. The text is
designed to provide the surgeon in training or the seasoned general surgeon unique clinical or
operative options for the care of their patients.
