Ginsberg and Ahmad from Philadelphia have edited a compendium on pancreaticobiliary disorders within the Clinician’s Guide series. Overall, this is a concise book and makes for good reading. The referencing is somewhat inconsistent from chapter to chapter. Sometimes citations are extensive, and sometimes chapters are rather short on direct references to statements made in the text. Some chapters like chapter 1 recommend further reading instead, whereas others such as chapters 11 and 2 are well referenced.

At the start of the book, congenital abnormalities of the pancreas, such as pancreas divisum, are outlined, and guidelines for interventional therapy are given. Chapter 2 on gallstones and gallbladder disorders is detailed on the pathobiology of gallstone formation. Some facts are repeated in Chapter 3 on choledocholithiasis, which also contains the technical intricacies of various types of sphincterotomes. Unfortunately, no reference is provided for the indicated 25% late complication rate after endoscopic sphincterotomy, a proportion I regard as very high. In Chapter 5, …