Understanding Surgery
A Comprehensive Guide for Every Family
by
Dr. Joel Berman, M.D., F.A.C.S
Copyright 2011 Dr. Joel Berman,
All rights reserved.
Published in eBook format by Branden Books
Converted by http://www.eBookIt.com
ISBN-13: 978-0-8283-2282-9
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Berman, Joel A.
Understanding surgery: a comprehensive guide for every family / by Joel A. Berman.
p.cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8283-2061-6
1. Surgery—Popular works.
2. Surgery—History—Popular works.
I. Title.
RD31.3.B47 2001
617—dc21
2001018500
BRANDEN BOOKS
Division of Branden Publishing Co.
PO Box 812094
Wellesley MA 02482
To My Wife Andrea
and
To the Memory of My Father
Leon G. Berman, M.D., F.A.C.S.
A Skillful Surgeon, Compassionate Physician,
Teacher, Writer, Scholar,
and,
Eternal Student
Also By Joel Berman
FICTION
Circle in the Water
The Girl with Emerald Eyes
Scalpel
The Cloak of Hippocrates
A Few Loose Screws
NONFICTION
Comprehensive Breast Care
And Surviving Breast Cancer
Slave Labor
A Floating World
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
I deeply appreciate the efforts of Adolfo Caso of Branden Books for his belief in my ability to write this book as well as my first book, Comprehensive Breast Care and Surviving Breast Cancer; in today's publishing world, “It Ain't Easy To Get A Book Into Print!”
Although the writing of this book has been solely my effort, I have valued the comments and reviews of the following chapters by their respective specialists:
“Orthopedics” by Dr. Kenneth Kengla,
“Urology” by Dr. Melvin Novegrod,
“Gynecology” by Dr. Charles Moniak,
“Neurosurgery” by Dr. Abraham Rayhaun,
“Thoracic Surgery” by Dr. Santosh Mohanty,
“Cardiac Surgery” by Dr. Himmet Dajee,
“Plastic Surgery” by Dr. Malcolm Paul,
“Ophthalmic Surgery” by Dr. Mark Bronstein,
“Ear, Nose and Throat Surgery” by Dr. Douglas Tran,
“Pediatric Surgery” by Dr. Ali Kaviani.
The illustrations have been masterfully done by Faith and Adrian Van DeRee, and I am indebted to them for their comments and reading of the manuscript. The cover design was done by Danny Berman.
Wanda Atkinson and Lena Bodnar have extended themselves in the secretarial work needed for this project. I also would like to express my appreciation to Marissa Saplala for typing and proofing the manuscript, and Quan M. Nguyen for providing computer expertise.
And finally, to my wife Andrea Berman, RN, OCN for her constant support and encouragement during the many months of writing this book, I am again eternally grateful.
Joel A. Berman
M.D., F.A.C.S.
The purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others.
Albert Schweitzer
PART I
Chapter 1
INTRODUCTION
I sat one day in the library and looked at a surgical text,
It weighed too much, had rarely been used,
and left me quite perplexed.
Now why in heaven would anyone want
to wade through all those pages?
It seemed so dull, though I must admit,
it was written by dozens of sages.
So I said to myself, I know what I'll do,
I'll write a book just plain and simple
Explaining to every man, woman and child
the art of removing a pimple.
Surely a book about cutting and sewing
would be to the layman's liking,
As
