In discussing advances in abdominal surgery, I have chosen to limit my remarks to progress made during the last 16 years, beginning with the American entry into World War II, in December, 1941. My personal acquaintance with surgery dates back almost 40 years, after graduation from Rush Medical College of the University of Chicago in April, 1919. It seems to me that the most rapid, exciting, and valuable advances in surgery have taken place in the past 16 years. There were many important contributions which made these advances possible; for the sake of brevity, I shall only enumerate them. They were the discovery of the sulfonamides, the antibiotics, the extended application of the giving of blood, the maintenance of proper fluid and electrolyte balance by intravenous injection of replacement agents, and the use of gastric and intestinal intubation with suction by means of catheters and the Miller-Abbott tube. As newer