The topics in this book represent the presentations given at the First and Second Annual Meetings entitled "Critical Issues in Surgery" held at the Frenchman's Reef Beach Resort, st. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands, November 1992 and 1993. This symposium was sponsored by the Department of Surgery, and the Department of Nursing Education and Quality Assurance of Cooper Hospital/University Medical Center, the University of Medicine and Den­ tistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Camden, New Jersey, as well as the Academy of Medicine of New Jersey. Chapter authors were charged with the task of writing brief overviews of major issues related to the field of general surgery and critical care medicine. The book is specifically tailored to the needs of general surgeons, allied health professionals and nursing personnel involved in all phases of caring for the surgical patient. Although intended as a reference source with emphasis on up-dated approaches applied in general surgery, it is hoped that the discussion of these topics will compliment other texts and manuscripts. Obviously, a book of this length cannot cover the whole multidiSCiplinary and complex field of surgery. However, the co-editors are certain that the annual appearance of this text will highlight comprehensive, new and interesting approaches to the field of surgery.