Emergency Abdominal Surgery is a battlefield for the surgeon - providing character-building experiences, and opportunities for triumph and disaster. In the second edition of this 'simple' book emergency abdominal surgery is discussed in an informal and no nonsense fashion - as practiced in the 'trenches' of the ER and the OR. The preferred approach for a given situation is discussed in context; it has to fulfil certain prerequisites: save live, decrease morbidity, be cost effective and be performed correctly.

1 General philosophy 3 2 A brief history of emergency abdominal surgery 9 3 The acute abdomen 17 4 Rational diagnostic procedures 27 5 Abdominal imaging 33 6 Optimizing the patient 55 7 Pre-operative antibiotics 67 8 Family, ethics, informed consent and medicolegal issues 71 9 Before the flight : pre-op checklist 77 10 The incision 83 11 Abdominal exploration : finding what is wrong 87 12 Peritonitis : contamination and infection, principles of treatment 95 13 The intestinal anastomosis 103 14 Esophageal emergencies 109 15 Diaphragmatic emergencies 119 16 Upper gastrointestinal hemorrhage (and portal hypertension) 125 17 Perforated peptic ulcer 143 18 Acute pancreatitis 151 19 Acute cholecystitis 163 20 Acute cholangitis 173 21 Small bowel obstruction 179 22 Acute abdominal wall hernias 191 23 Acute mesenteric ischemia 197 24 Inflammatory bowel disease and other types of colitis 205 25 Colonic obstruction 217 26 Acute diverticulitis 229 27 Massive lower gastrointestinal bleeding 239 28 Acute appendicitis 245 29 Anorectal emergencies 255 30 Surgical complications of endoscopy 265 31 Gynecological emergencies 275 32 Abdominal emergencies in infancy and childhood 283 33 The AIDS patient 291 34 Penetrating abdominal trauma 297 35 Blunt abdominal trauma 305 36 The abdominal compartment syndrome 321 37 Abdominal aortic emergencies 329 38 Abdominal closure 337 39 Before landing 343 40 Postoperative care 347 41 Nutrition 355 42 Postoperative antibiotics 363 43 Postoperative ileus vs intestinal obstruction 369 44 Intra-abdominal abscesses 377 45 Anastomotic leaks and fistulas 387 46 Re-laparotomies and laparostomy for infection 395 47 Abdominal wall dehiscence 411 48 LIRS, SIRS, sepsis, MODS and tertiary peritonitis 415 49 Wound management 425 50 Postoperative bleeding 431 51 The role of laparoscopy 439 52 In the aftermath and the M & M meeting 449