Rutherford’s Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy, 2-Volume Set 10th Edition

Book Preface

The transformation of the content of the programs of the annual meetings over the last 75 years chronicles the advance-ments and evolution in the diagnosis and management of vascular disease; an evolution that we aimed to emphasize in this edition of this text by including the most up- to- date infor-mation available.
It was with a sense of deep professional pride and respon-sibility that we assumed the editorship of the ninth edition of the book, and with that edition we changed the title to Ruth-erford’s Vascular Surgery and Endovascular Therapy, to reflect the dramatic evolution in the evaluation and treatment of patients with circulatory disease. It is with an equal level of dedication and enthusiasm that we have devoted the past three years to produce the tenth edition of this work, which we believe is an unparalleled resource to support clinicians in our mission to optimize the care of patients with vascular disease, and to continue as a living testimonial to Dr. Rutherford’s memory and legacy.
From its first edition, in the nearly half century of its exis-tence, this textbook has always been, and without question, we believe, remains today, the definitive reference text in the field. We are indebted to Dr. Rutherford for his vision and commitment, and to our colleagues, Drs. Jack Cronenwett and Wayne Johnston, who edited the seventh and eighth editions, for handing over to us a superb text to build on; a book that is without question the bible of vascular surgery.
When we assumed the editorship of the ninth edition, it was our core belief that we should commit ourselves to continu-ally improving the textbook. While we were deeply gratified by the overwhelmingly positive book reviews of the ninth edition and the response of our readership, we rededicated ourselves to make the tenth edition even better through significant im-provements that will quickly be apparent to the reader.
Technology is advancing and new medical information is developing at a faster rate than at any time in our history with respect to the care of patients with vascular disease. In addition, the practice of medicine in general, and vascular surgery in par-ticular, is becoming increasingly complex and challenging. In-deed, the content of these two volumes reflects the totality of care delivered by vascular surgeons and other specialists devot-ed to the evaluation and management of the vascular patient in contemporary practice – namely, open surgery, endovascular therapy, and medical management of patients with the entire spectrum of circulatory disease – as well as presenting the most valuable diagnostic modalities; the basic science foundation of vascular disease and its treatment; and, the delivery of vascular care within the context of what is today the business of medi-cine.

This tenth edition contains 207 chapters organized in 32 focused sections. This is the first edition of this textbook in which we have included in the majority of the chapters concise yet very comprehensive diagnostic and therapeutic algorithms vital to the diagnosis and management of the condition ad-dressed in that particular chapter. These algorithms provide for the reader a practical and succinct summary of the substance of the information in that chapter. The number of chapters has increased not only by adding new chapters in evolving areas of practice, but also by creating more directed presentations of the subject matter in shorter and more focused chapters to allow easier access to the desired information; having that in mind, we also included at the beginning of every chapter a listing of the topics discussed in that chapter.
The authors in this text were carefully selected to represent a roster of multidisciplinary national and international innova-tive thought leaders in the field, and whose contributions rep-resent collectively the most up- to- date advances in the scientif-ic basis for, and the management of, vascular disease to provide an unparalleled insight into the most appropriate contempo-rary and future treatment of these conditions. No other text can match the level of expertise assembled in this one book. Optimal patient outcomes increasingly are achieved through multidisciplinary care; therefore, we believe a strength of this text results from the insights of a unique group, these most re-spected experts from the entire spectrum of medical specialties, as well as vascular surgery and basic science. Likewise, in an increasingly global healthcare system, the international author-ship is a strength of this book.
As noted in the ninth edition, we increased the number of chapters in the book not only to present the material in a more concise and focused manner, but also by adding new chapters for this edition. In fact, every chapter in this book, previously published, has been revised for the tenth edition and in some cases the authorship changed. We felt that the expansion in the number of chapters was necessary to incor-porate new topics, reflect the rapid generation of new infor-mation, and reorganize information on topics that gained more relevance over the years, or add topics that have not been included in past editions. This book covers the totality of commonplace vascular problems as well as esoteric chal-lenges infrequently seen by the vascular specialist, such as vas-cular oncologic conditions and pediatric vascular aneurysms and tumors. It presents the most up-to-date information on the endovascular management of vascular disease, including complex aneurysms such as aortic arch and thoracoabdomi-nal aortic aneurysms. Recognizing the increasing influence of economic considerations in the delivery of care, we com-pletely revised the section on the business of medicine for the tenth edition, including chapters on the operation of multidisciplinary cardiovascular centers, outpatient vascular centers, and outpatient dialysis care. Further, an entirely new section on the use of technology platforms and social media in vascular surgery includes the most up- to- date information on the marketing of a vascular practice and branding of vas-cular surgery, including focused chapters on the use of the internet and social media in vascular practice, and the evolv-ing strategy of telemedicine for the vascular surgeon. Further-more, we continue in the tenth edition to provide the latest information with respect to managing less common but still occasionally encountered, and especially challenging clinical problems such as medial arcuate ligament syndrome and its contemporary management, vascular reconstructions in on-cologic surgery, management of complex regional pain syn-drome, and management of chronic compartment syndrome, among others. With the increasing performance of endovas-cular interventions and consequent reduced exposure to open surgery, we believe a text that devotes significant space to open vascular surgical exposure is more important than ever. This text directly addresses that need with chapters devoted to open surgical exposure in various vascular beds and operative techniques with extensive illustrations and videos.
It was our vision when we began this project to produce a book that would be of enormous value to not only practic-ing vascular surgeons, as well as interventional radiologists and interventional cardiologists treating patients with circulatory disease, but of equal if not greater value to residents and fel-lows in these disciplines and medical students and other allied healthcare professionals treating patients with vascular disease, and we believe we have achieved that vision. We also believe this text will be especially valuable to vascular surgical trainees as they prepare for in- service and board certification examina-tions.
Finally, we have all been functioning in a healthcare sys-tem, and in our own communities and personal lives, at a time of unprecedented stress related to the COVID pan-demic in this country and globally. Despite all the challenges that this has created, the work of producing this book con-tinued unabated. In that light we are especially indebted to our twelve associate editors, international leaders in the field, who were each responsible for editing specific sections of the book. Words cannot express our deep appreciation to Drs. AbuRahma, Aulivola, Brown, Duncan, Eidt, Forbes, Harris, Henke, Hoballah, Rowe, Upchurch, and Velazquez. Their diligence in working with the contributors to control the size and direct the focus of each chapter was instrumental in al-lowing us to execute our goal of increasing the number of chapters in the book while meeting our page allotment. We would like to thank our contributors who managed to pro-duce the most up- to- date information available and produce algorithms that summarize such information and put it in a practical format for the readers to benefit from it in the care of their patients; they are the ones who did the majority of the work while following our sometimes burdensome instruc-tions to make the book look and feel as one entity despite the participation of over 350 authors. They did this work mostly in the middle of the COVID- 19 pandemic while working hard in untoward and mostly unsafe circumstances risking themselves and their families and loved ones, taking care of infected patients. We also greatly appreciate the hard work and attention to details by the production team at Elsevier, in particular, Joanie Milnes, Senior Content Development Specialist; Jessica McCool, Content Strategist, Books; and Joanna Souch, Production Manager.
Finally, we would like to again thank the Society for Vascu-lar Surgery and its Publications Committee for putting their trust in us; we hope we were able to deliver what the readership will find educationally valuable, but most important, beneficial in improving the care of the vascular patient – a truly must- have resource.