Anatomy and Surgery Textbooks

[Mad Kasia]

I'm going to be an TA for gross anatomy M-1 class starting next week.
I thought it would be awesome to correlate the lab stuff with the " OR anatomy". Since things look so much different in the real human being than they do in Netter's, I wanted to elicit some advice on what 'surgical atlas' is a good one to have.

Also, with some may surgery textbooks out there, which book should be 'the' book to buy, if I could have only one?

Thanks.

K.

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[njbmd]

I'm going to be an TA for gross anatomy M-1 class starting next week.
I thought it would be awesome to correlate the lab stuff with the " OR anatomy". Since things look so much different in the real human being than they do in Netter's, I wanted to elicit some advice on what 'surgical atlas' is a good one to have.

Also, with some may surgery textbooks out there, which book should be 'the' book to buy, if I could have only one?

Thanks.

K.

It's not so much that "surgical" anatomy "looks" different from Gross Anatomy. It more that as a surgeon, you have to be able to know your landmarks so that you can safely make your repairs. A cadaver that has been preserved by embalming has a different look and feel from a living human. You won't be able to simulate that look and feel in the Gross lab.

With the above being said, as an anatomy TA, you want to emphasize important landmarks that let you identify structures (same as you learned in Gross anyway) and perhaps spend some time on things like going through the layers of the abdomen or chest; hernia anatomy (can't really appreciate this unless you know how hernia pathology disrupts the layers and how different repairs make use of the characteristics of those layers and the body's healing properties) and important landmarks for various cases such as mastectomy.

Netter has a great atlas but you may want to just speak with a surgeon or two about the differences between the cadaver and how they approach various cases in terms of anatomy. You may want to look at a surgical atlas or two (don't buy these but consult in your library) to see things that may get in your operative field that you won't want to damage.

Congrats on being an anatomy TA.

 

[Winged Scapula]

You might want to look a a photographic atlas like Rohen and Yokochi which while not intraoperative pictures is still more "lifelike" than Netters. The most commonly used surgical atlas, Zollinger and Zollinger, is drawings like Netters and is more text than pictures.

 

[Mad Kasia]

It's not so much that "surgical" anatomy "looks" different from Gross Anatomy. It more that as a surgeon, you have to be able to know your landmarks so that you can safely make your repairs. A cadaver that has been preserved by embalming has a different look and feel from a living human. You won't be able to simulate that look and feel in the Gross lab.

With the above being said, as an anatomy TA, you want to emphasize important landmarks that let you identify structures (same as you learned in Gross anyway) and perhaps spend some time on things like going through the layers of the abdomen or chest; hernia anatomy (can't really appreciate this unless you know how hernia pathology disrupts the layers and how different repairs make use of the characteristics of those layers and the body's healing properties) and important landmarks for various cases such as mastectomy.

Netter has a great atlas but you may want to just speak with a surgeon or two about the differences between the cadaver and how they approach various cases in terms of anatomy. You may want to look at a surgical atlas or two (don't buy these but consult in your library) to see things that may get in your operative field that you won't want to damage.

Congrats on being an anatomy TA.

Hey [EDIT].

Thanks for the advice. I was not going to drag my 'fancy new atlas' to the lab... but I wanted to buy one that I would be able to use as a reference for the years to come.

The same is true about anatomy books. I know there is Sabiston, Schwartz, Cameron, and I flipped through all of them... but I still didn't get a taste for which of them should be THE book to buy and have at home as a reference.

 

[njbmd]

Hey [EDIT].

Thanks for the advice. I was not going to drag my 'fancy new atlas' to the lab... but I wanted to buy one that I would be able to use as a reference for the years to come.

The same is true about anatomy books. I know there is Sabiston, Schwartz, Cameron, and I flipped through all of them... but I still didn't get a taste for which of them should be THE book to buy and have at home as a reference.

As Dr. WS stated above, the surgical atlases are going to be somewhat like Netters but they do have information on landmarks and how specific surgeries might be performed. The Rohen atlas is great for showing relative sizes of structures and what a good clean dissection looks like (good choice). I can tell you that I kept my Moore's Clinically Oriented Anatomy next to my surgical atlas when I was in residency so that I could keep landmarks in mind. If you scan the atlases in the library, you might find one that you want to invest in (expensive unless you are going into surgery and then, most people use the one that in the library in that case to save money). I used the Zollinger & Zollinger Surgical Atlas (library copy) to preview cases so definitely look at that one. There are others out there too such as the relatively inexpensive Operative Surgery by Khatri which covers the performance of cases along with the embryology, anatomy and operative procedures (you might like this one too).

 

[Buzz Me]

The same is true about anatomy books. I know there is Sabiston, Schwartz, Cameron, and I flipped through all of them... but I still didn't get a taste for which of them should be THE book to buy and have at home as a reference.

There isn't one "best" book out there, else everyone would have it and would be talking about it. If you look at previous threads on textbook choices you'll see that everyone has their own personal preference. The best thing you can do is pick one topic and read its chapter in each book...and see which one you like the best.

 

[DrNick Riviera]

i have heard that this is a great atlas with good illustration and descriptions. does anyone know when Second Edition (with Vol 1 and 2) will be available? i cant find it anywhere.

 

[maxheadroom]

I love the Pernkopf atlas, but it's waaaay out of print (and crazy expensive). Also, it's a bit controversial. But the pictures are fantastic and it is very, very accurate (much more than Netter's).

 

[Winged Scapula]

i have heard that this is a great atlas with good illustration and descriptions. does anyone know when Second Edition (with Vol 1 and 2) will be available? i cant find it anywhere.

Volume 1 is already out which is mostly foregut.

I understand Volume 2 has been pushed back to June 2011.

 

[Winged Scapula]

I love the Pernkopf atlas, but it's waaaay out of print (and crazy expensive). Also, it's a bit controversial. But the pictures are fantastic and it is very, very accurate (much more than Netter's).

The controversy is interesting. Is it ethical to show the work of an avowed Nazi when it involves dissecting POWs, even if the work represents an advancement of medical science? And by censoring its content, are we aiding those who are wont to describe the Holocaust as a fantasy?

Have you seen the book? I could never find it in our medical libraries but the H&N pics show identifiable features.

 

[maxheadroom]

I have a set. I searched several used book sites and eventually found a set. The pictures are simply breathtaking -- it is beautiful art and the most accurate anatomic representations that I've ever seen. As I understood it, it is unclear as to whether or not actual POWs/concentration camp prisoners were used.

 

[Guile]

The controversy is interesting. Is it ethical to show the work of an avowed Nazi when it involves dissecting POWs, even if the work represents an advancement of medical science? And by censoring its content, are we aiding those who are wont to describe the Holocaust as a fantasy?

Have you seen the book? I could never find it in our medical libraries but the H&N pics show identifiable features.

I have a set. I searched several used book sites and eventually found a set. The pictures are simply breathtaking -- it is beautiful art and the most accurate anatomic representations that I've ever seen. As I understood it, it is unclear as to whether or not actual POWs/concentration camp prisoners were used.

Agreed that the Pernkopf atlas is incredible. I also have heard about the controversy and don't own a set, but I researched it briefly and found that like maxheadroom says it's not proven just alleged. I also found out that they use his atlas in Israel in medical school. Some Jewish students even saw it as a matter of pride, as in, their brethren died for this, so it would make their deaths even more senseless to not benefit from the work. But there are definitely a lot of people on the other side of the matter, and I can see their concern too.

 

[Winged Scapula]

It is true that it has never been proven and likely never will unless some tissue remains upon which DNA testing could be obtained. However, I think the evidence more than circumstantial and the University of Vienna admits that bodies of the victims of Nazis were provided to them for research. And there is no doubt that Pernkopf was a member of the SS and that as editor of the journal of the Viennese Medical Society, he swore the journal would serve the Reich.

Anyway, I fall on the side that it is a valuable work to medical science but fully understand the ethical, emotional and psychological impact that his work has. As Guile notes, many Jewish scholars posit that by NOT using it, we run the risk of denying the suffering of their forefathers and allowing their deaths to be in vain.

Here is an interesting article which fleshes out Pernkopf's history and the reaction of libraries to his work: View attachment Pernkopf.pdf

 

[45408]

what makes the Pernkopf book so good? and are there any (legal) examples of any of these pictures that are so great?

 

[Winged Scapula]

what makes the Pernkopf book so good? and are there any (legal) examples of any of these pictures that are so great?

http://www.history.ucsb.edu/faculty/marcuse/classes/33d/33dWImages/PernkopfFig336-1989_500.jpg

 

[Guile]

what makes the Pernkopf book so good? and are there any (legal) examples of any of these pictures that are so great?

The atlas is legal of course. The ethics of using it are what are still debated. For more examples, see also.

Kim, thanks for posting that paper. I learned a lot there.

 

[maxheadroom]

what makes the Pernkopf book so good? and are there any (legal) examples of any of these pictures that are so great?

The plates are simply beautiful. They demonstrate the beauty of anatomy. More importantly, the anatomical relationships demonstrated in the atlas are far more accurate than any other picture book that I've seen. In particular, the head and neck sections are out of this world. I had to review some complicated anatomy for the posterior triangle of the neck and the pictures in Pernkopf were by far the most useful for me.

And they're beautiful.