Foreword to the First Edition

We live in a high-technology world where the “miracles” of modern surgery make headline news around the globe. It is no longer surprising to hear of yet another start-up medical technology company that promises a new surgical device that will save countless lives, improve outcomes, and significantly decrease pain and suffering. People find themselves mesmerized by watching “key hole surgery” broadcast in high definition to their home television and find it surprisingly elegant and bloodless compared with their prior mental picture of surgeons at work. So it is perhaps understandable that many patients today go online to find surgeons and institutions offering the newest approaches and latest technology. It seems as though the modern surgeon armed with high-tech devices and digitalized equipment should be invincible. Indeed, it is easy for surgeons to be inappropriately swept up by the siren song of technical innovation.

In this kind of world, one might question the utility of yet another surgical textbook, especially one devoted to operative technique. Fortunately, editors Steven Wexner and James Fleshman have created a unique publication that is a far cry from the traditional textbook of the past. The list of contributing authors includes seasoned master surgeons schooled in traditional techniques and highly innovative researchers and entrepreneurs who are exploring new frontiers of surgical technology. Over the course of their busy clinical careers, the editors themselves have successfully bridged both perspectives. Their unique experiences are apparent in this new, tightly edited and highly practical textbook that emphasizes tried and true open techniques and new, less invasive techniques.

Drs. Wexner and Fleshman understand that surgical outcomes are dependent on many factors including clinical acumen and mature judgment to guide individualized decision making. But they also know that surgeons must master basic operative skills and develop a full reservoir of different techniques that can be used to fit the demands of the case at hand. As importantly, they know that no matter how revolutionary or exciting, technology has its limits. Innovation is providing new tools, but it is the surgeon’s skill in deciding what tools to use and the way in which they are used that determines the surgical outcome. Operative technique remains critical to minimize patient morbidity, cure cancer and other life-threatening conditions, and preserve function and quality of life. All colon and rectal surgeons will find this book to be a valuable adjunct to their practice. The artist’s color drawings are superb and anatomically correct. The text is easy to read, very focused, and useful for busy surgeons. I congratulate the editors for bringing this book to us.

David A. Rothenberger
August 1, 2011