Book excerpt: Peripheral Vascular Surgery aims to provide an updated and authoritative introduction to peripheral vascular surgery. Most arterial and venous diseases appear to be mainly the result, directly or indirectly, of mural deposition of solid material within a rapidly moving stream of blood. The vascular surgeon must therefore have a working knowledge of blood platelet interactions and probable mechanisms of thrombosis. He must also understand both the value and the limitations of present methods of blood flow measurement. This book provides an updated description of these complexities and presents essential basic knowledge that will prove valuable to surgeons and researchers working in this field. This text will be useful for post graduate surgeons, as well as for those in need of a reference useful for doctors in related fields such as general medicine and cardio-thoracic and orthopedic surgery.