This fully revised new edition focuses on the clinical, diagnostic, and therapeutic aspects of conditions encountered by the coloproctologist and gastroenterological surgeon, who are faced with an increasing number of precise and specific treatment modalities.

The Scientification of Gastroenterology During the 20th Century * Science contributes to medicine in three ways: It provides a body of relatively secure knowl edge. Some of that knowledge has been applied to develop technologies which have had a major impact upon the practice and effectiveness of medicine. Last, science offers to medicine a way of thinking. - 1. McCormick [(1993) The Contribution of Science to Medicine. Perspect. Bioi. Med. 16,315.] Awareness of the digestive system began with the dawn of civilization, when man, observing the feeding habits of animals in the surrounding environment, experimented with foods, edible and inedible. Identity came with discoveries of the digestive organs during the 16th and 17th centuries. Function was revealed by physiologic studies of digestion, absorp tion and secretion, metabolism, and motility during the 18th and 19th centuries. Diagnostic access improved with the technological advances of the 20th century. Understanding of gas trointestinal (GI) disease followed the growth of the basic sciences and gastroenterology's involvement in scientific research during the latter half of the 20th century. Early in the 20th century, gastroenterology was yet an undefined activity without clinical or scientific guidelines. Diagnostic approach to the digestive tract was minimal. Valid con cepts of disease were lacking. Visceroptosis, sitophobia, and "colonic autointoxication" were common "diagnoses." Therapeutic resources were scarce.

Patients with perianal diseases such as dermatitis do not just visit the dermatologist; they are seen by family doctors, internists, pediatricians, general surgeons, gynecologists, and urologists. This book is truly multi-disciplinary, introducing the surgical specialties to medical proctology and related fields. The procedures described allow effective management of both common and less common diseases, including all the secondary problems that may arise. With increasing travel and increasing immunosuppression, parasitic intestinal diseases are now seen in every type of practice. The standard diagnostic procedures described herein reduce costs in therapy. This new reference in proctology and perianal skin disease gives detailed descriptions of clinical features, laboratory diagnosis, and treatment strategies. It will empower a wide variety of physicians to manage these disorders more effectively.

Three distinct types of contractions perform colonic motility functions. Rhythmic phasic contractions (RPCs) cause slow net distal propulsion with extensive mixing/turning over. Infrequently occurring giant migrating contractions (GMCs) produce mass movements. Tonic contractions aid RPCs in their motor function. The spatiotemporal patterns of these contractions differ markedly. The amplitude and distance of propagation of a GMC are several-fold larger than those of an RPC. The enteric neurons and smooth muscle cells are the core regulators of all three types of contractions. The regulation of contractions by these mechanisms is modifiable by extrinsic factors: CNS, autonomic neurons, hormones, inflammatory mediators, and stress mediators. Only the GMCs produce descending inhibition, which accommodates the large bolus being propelled without increasing muscle tone. The strong compression of the colon wall generates afferent signals that are below nociceptive threshold in healthy subjects. However, these signals become nociceptive; if the amplitudes of GMCs increase, afferent nerves become hypersensitive, or descending inhibition is impaired. The GMCs also provide the force for rapid propulsion of feces and descending inhibition to relax the internal anal sphincter during defecation. The dysregulation of GMCs is a major factor in colonic motility disorders: irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), and diverticular disease (DD). Frequent mass movements by GMCs cause diarrhea in diarrhea predominant IBS, IBD, and DD, while a decrease in the frequency of GMCs causes constipation. The GMCs generate the afferent signals for intermittent short-lived episodes of abdominal cramping in these disorders. Epigenetic dysregulation due to adverse events in early life is one of the major factors in generating the symptoms of IBS in adulthood.

This first reference to comprehensively address both the medical and surgical management of diseases affecting the colon, this source spans the wide array of colorectal disorders including rectal prolapse, irritable bowel syndrome, benign and malignant colonic tumors, fissures and ulcers, and Crohn's colitis, among other ailments. With chapters by