This marks the first issue of the Journal in which a specific section related to trauma appears. In a previous Editors’ View (Can J Surg 1998;41:260), I argued that such a section was needed because of the increasing involvement by surgeons in all disciplines with the management of the trauma patient.
The importance of trauma in the daily lives of surgeons is reflected not only by a review of the operating lists of any large general hospital, but also by a review of the programs of papers presented at meetings of the various national specialty organizations.
Increasing specialization by anatomic region has, of necessity, led to greater specialization in the management of trauma patients. Not only have we seen a proliferation of journals devoted exclusively to trauma, but we are now seeing journals restricted to subspecialty trauma as defined by anatomic region or surgical specialty.
By introducing, periodically, papers on trauma in the Canadian Journal of Surgery, Dr. Meakins and I hope that readers will be kept abreast of the changes occurring in trauma surgery and be made aware of advances in trauma surgery in specialties other than their own.
As always, we welcome your thoughts and contributions to the different areas of the Journal and hope that you will find this new section interesting and relevant to your practice.