“The seventh edition of Pediatric Surgery continues to be what people think of as the bible of pediatric surgery.” – Arnold G. Coran, MD
The changes in pediatric surgery are similar to the changes in the whole field of surgery. Minimally invasive surgery has had a major impact on the specialty, especially since the companies that make surgical tools realized they needed to miniaturize many of the instruments for small children and babies. That has been an explosive change throughout the field, not just in the United States, but around the world. I think the other big change is the increased involvement of faculty at academic pediatric surgery centers in basic research. Basic research has significantly expanded in the last 30 years.
There has been a quantum leap in this edition from the previous two editions I edited thanks to the new electronic features. The electronic element is very exciting. Having the entire book online, including all of the references, saves a lot of paper in the printed edition. It’s also nice to be able to click on a reference online and connect directly with PubMed to see the whole PDF of that reference. Years ago, if we wanted to have a resident write up a series of cases or write a clinical paper, he or she would go to the library and spend many days looking up all the previous references on the subject. With this book, the ease of finding the relevant literature very quickly is a big plus. For those who like to play around with electronics, it’s fun.
I’ve had the pleasure and the privilege to be an editor of the previous two editions of Pediatric Surgery. The seventh edition continues to be what people think of as the bible of pediatric surgery. In all of the editions the editorial board has made a concerted effort to get the experts to write the chapters in order to make Pediatric Surgery comprehensive and authoritative.
Arnold G. Coran, MD is professor emeritus of surgery within the Section of Pediatric Surgery at the University of Michigan Medical School and professor of pediatric surgery at New York University Medical School. He has contributed extensively to the field of pediatric surgery, parenteral and enteral nutrition, and shock in children, among others. His current major clinical activity has focused on complex esophageal and colorectal surgery in children. He is an author of more than 450 journal articles, more than 120 book chapters, and 21 books, including the two-volume text Pediatric Surgery.
Dr. Coran is an influential educator and has lectured around the globe. He is past president of the American Pediatric Surgical Association, past chairman of the Association of Pediatric Surgery Training Program Directors, past chairman of the Surgical Section of the American Academy of Pediatrics, past senior advisor of the Surgical Section of the Children’s Cancer Study Group, and a founding member of the Society for Pediatric Trauma. He is also a member of the American Surgical Association and the Society of University Surgeons, among many others. Dr. Coran is the recipient of the Salzberg Award from the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Denis Brown Gold Medal Award from the British Association of Pediatric Surgeons, the Swenson Medal and the Soave Medal.
