Source control is the key to the management of surgical infections. Surgical decision making is based on the marriage of evidence from clinical studies, inferences from biology, and the elusive component of surgical experience; this book combines these three elements. We have recruited an international group of authors who are acknowledged leaders in the field of surgical infectious diseases. We have challenged them to integrate evidence with experience and an understanding of biology so as to create overviews that will help the clinician who must make the difficult decisions. And we have kept them honest by asking a second group of equally eminent commentators to provide supporting or alternative views - in essence, to recreate the kind of dialogue that takes place between clinicians discussing a difficult problem. This is THE manual for the authoritative management of surgical infections!