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South African Journal of Surgery

On-line version ISSN 2078-5151
Print version ISSN 0038-2361

S. Afr. j. surg. vol.51 n.1 Cape Town Jan. 2013

 

BOOK REVIEW

 

 

The Diabetic Foot. 3rd ed. By Aristidis Veves, John M Giurini and Frank W Lo Gerfo. Pp. 568. 211 figures, 60 tables. US$239.00. New York: Humana Press, Springer Science and Business Media, 2012. ISBN 978-1-61779-790-3.

This book describes the principles of care of the diabetic surgical patient with an emphasis on diabetic foot problems. It is the third updated edition since its first publication in 2002. The overwhelming majority of the contributors work in the USA, and experience at the Joslin-Beth Israel Deaconess Foot Center in particular is presented.

The main sections of the book are as follows: clinical features and diagnosis (including epidemiology, diabetic neuropathy, clinical examination and imaging of infection in the diabetic foot); pathophysiology (wound healing, diabetic foot ulcers, microvascular changes in the diabetic foot); management of the diabetic foot (including wound care, arterial reconstruction, amputations and rehabilitation); and organisation and preventive care (organisation of the diabetic foot care team, prevention of diabetic foot problems through suitable footwear). As is often the case in books with several authors, the chapters are of varying quality. Overlap and reiteration, especially in the first two parts of the book, are inconvenient and should be examined by the editors when they prepare the next edition. They also need to update the literature, more than 90% of which in quite a few chapters dates back to the 1990s, i.e. to the first edition, so that the reader has to search for recent results somewhere else. More careful editing of the book should have avoided obvious mistakes, for example the confusions in Figs 3.5, 3.6 and 3.7 (pages 43 - 48).

Although its quality could be improved, the book nevertheless gives an excellent general account of medical and surgical management of the diabetic foot and can be recommended in particular to family doctors and to surgeons at the beginning of their careers.

R T Grundmann
Burghausen, Germany
reinhart@prof-grundmann.de

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