A highly competent and qualified group of surgeon-teachers have assembled to prepare a masterful text on hernias. Hernias of the ventral abdominal wall are well described and illustrated.
The Stoppa repair, in particular, is most interesting, because it is not well known or widely practiced in the United States. The sections on repair of peritoneal floor hernias, uterine prolapse, and enterocele are especially good. The descriptions of internal hernias and methods for their repair also are well illustrated. Laparoscopic procedures are difficult to describe and illustrate. The brief section on laparoscopic Nissen fundoplication comes as close as this reviewer has seen to adequately accomplishing this task.
Each chapter has a complete list of references. Unlike many such books, the table of contents is just as useful as the detailed index. However, the textual descriptions of most procedures are exceedingly brief, some to the point of losing their utility.