Written entirely by Dr. Haile T. Debas, Dean of School of Medicine and former Professor and Chairman, Department of Surgery, at the University of California, San Francisco, this book provides the unified approach only found in a single-authored text. Based on the three pillars of understanding particular disease processes - fundamental anatomy and physiology, pathophysiology, and clinical correlations - surgical treatment of GI disease is presented as the means to correct abnormal physiology and restore health. Thirteen lavishly illustrated chapters cover the GI system as well as gastrointestinal peptides and peptide-secreting tumors, abdominal trauma, the abdominal wall, surgery for morbid obesity, the liver, spleen, retroperitoneum, and perioperative care. Dozens of summary tables throughout each chapter condense "essentials" for quick reference. With 400 illustrations and tables, including anatomical line drawings commissioned exclusively for this title, Gastrointestinal Surgery provides an approach to surgical diseases that will prove invaluable to the surgical trainee and the practitioner.