Surgical Decision-Making in Complex Clinical Scenarios in Abdominal Surgery: A Case-Based Discussion and Approach to the Eight Most Common Problems with Nine Patients

Other chapters in this text deal with the most difficult situations in trauma and oncological surgery, respectively, and therefore this chapter will refrain from most of the crossover between abdominal surgery and oncologic or trauma causes. Instead, this chapter will emphasize some of the most complicated situations faced by general surgeons to include enterocutaneous fistulas, necrotizing soft tissue infections, postoperative anastomotic leaks, delayed recognition of intestinal ischemia, difficult gallbladders, burst abdomen, and complicated ventral hernias to hopefully shed some light on how we surgeons handle serious situations.