Rob and Smith's Operative Surgery

Abstract

Book reviewsinfections and gives an excellent account of their identification, with very useful colour plates to illustrate the charac- teristics of each organism itself.It would have helped, though, if there had been tables summarising the character- istics of different bacteria, so that, for instance, the reader could readily determine which organisms were Gram- positive and which Gram-negative.It suffers from being orientated towards the causes of the infections, so that the clinical signs, symptoms, and manage- ment are in a secondary place.This gives a lopsided approach to the book and makes it difficult for the reader to determine the relevant diagnosis and treatment.For example, in the diagnosis of staphylococcal infection of the lids no mention is made of the differential diagnosis of squamous blepharitis and what it may be associated with, and in the description of herpes simplex stromal disease no mention is made of other causes, apart from herpes simplex, of disciform keratitis.