The Biliary Tract

Abstract

For a decade, the formerly tidy, logical world of the biliary tract surgeon has been in intellectual turmoil, as efforts are made to digest and appropriately utilize revolutionary diagnostic and nonoperative therapeutic techniques. This book—the fifth in a series entitled Clinical Surgery International—is designed to give the practicing surgeon a good data base for evaluating new technology and learning how well-known clinical surgeons apply these techniques. The series editor could not have selected a better editor, for Professor Blumgart of the Postgraduate School in Hammersmith, London, is a master biliary tract surgeon, a scholar, and the epitome of an internationalist. The 17 chapters come from seven countries. Blumgart is far too canny (he once practiced in Scotland) to try to resolve the differences of his contributors and come up with a single answer in this evolving field. The value of the book lies in its tight editorship. The authors consistently