John Dixon, MD, and ten contributors have assembled a concise overview of state-of-the-art applications of surgical lasers. During a period when many hospitals are acquiring argon, YAG, and carbon dioxide lasers, and as clinical and experimental laser use increases rapidly, this is an important and timely contribution.
The first two chapters provide a brief practical approach to establishing a laser unit and an overview of the fundamentals of laser physics and laser tissue interactions. An excellent chapter on anesthetic considerations in laser surgery follows. The remainder of the book consists of individual chapters on the current use of lasers in each of the major surgical disciplines (excluding ophthalmology). These sections discuss indication for laser surgery, detail techniques and safety measures, and present current results. The clinical chapters attempt to place laser surgery in proper perspective alongside standard operative techniques and deal objectively with advantages and disadvantages of laser treatment. The