Invasion of the body: revolutions in surgery
Description
In 1913, the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston admitted its first patient, Mary Agnes Turner, who suffered from varicose veins in her legs. The surgical treatment she received, under ether anesthesia, was the most advanced available at the time. At the same hospital fifty years later, Nicholas Tilney—then a second-year resident—assisted in the repair of a large aortic aneurysm. The cutting-edge diagnostic tools he used to evaluate the patient’s condition would soon be eclipsed by yet more sophisticated apparatus, including minimally invasive approaches and state-of-the-art imaging technology, which Tilney would draw on in pioneering organ transplant surgery and becoming one of its most distinguished practitioners.In Invasion of the Body, Tilney tells the story of modern surgery and the revolutions that have transformed the field: anesthesia, prevention of infection, professional standards of competency, pharmaceutical advances, and the present turmoil in medical education and health care reform. Tilney uses as his stage the famous Boston teaching hospital where he completed his residency and went on to practice (now called Brigham and Women's). His cast of characters includes clinicians, support staff, trainees, patients, families, and various applied scientists who push the revolutions forward.While lauding the innovations that have brought surgeons' capabilities to heights undreamed of even a few decades ago, Tilney also previews a challenging future, as new capacities to prolong life and restore health run headlong into unsustainable costs. The authoritative voice he brings to the ancient tradition of surgical invasion will be welcomed by patients, practitioners, and policymakers alike.
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With the history of surgery and the surgical profession as his main subjects, Tilney (surgery, Harvard Univ.; Transplant: From Myth to Reality) does not hesitate to take readers on numerous side trips that enhance their understanding of the field and illustrate the interrelatedness among the discipline of surgery and the rest of medicine. Touching on everything from sanitation-free barber surgeons to robotics, he discusses the evolving science of surgery, the growth of the profession, the individuals responsible for incremental developments and breakthroughs, the technologies now available, and the directions in which the field might be headed. Brief stories about individual patients plus personal anecdotes from Tilney's many decades in practice and in academia keep the narrative flowing. Special attention is given to heart surgery and mechanical devices, the education and training of surgeons, and transplantation, the author's own specialty. He concludes with a chapter on the U.S. health-care system and the ways he thinks it could be improved. VERDICT A broad subject is nicely condensed into a very readable book that should prove fascinating to both lay readers and professionals.-Dick Maxwell, Porter Adventist Hosp., Denver (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.