This book, in 476 pages of text, reviews in detail a variety of techniques available for the diagnosis and treatment of gastrointestinal disease. There are six major sections: gastrointestinal endoscopy, treatment of esophageal obstruction, biopsy techniques, gastrointestinal intubation and aspiration techniques (including esophageal manometry, esophageal balloon tamponade, gastric and intestinal intubation, gastric analysis, and diagnostic procedures during gastrointestinal hemorrhage), and transabdominal needle aspiration techniques.
The authors are very successful when they provide detailed descriptions of the proper performance of diagnostic procedures. The sections on sigmoidoscopy, laparoscopy, and biopsy techniques were particularly instructive. In the section on gastrointestinal endoscopy, the amount of space devoted to photographs of endoscopic equipment could have been better utilized by showing additional luminal views of the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, or colon. In addition, the descriptions of rigid instruments for examination of the esophagus and stomach should have been more brief.
The authors chose not to include