--- product_id: 1524930 title: "Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science" price: "€ 27.52" currency: EUR in_stock: true reviews_count: 13 url: https://www.desertcart.be/products/1524930-complications-a-surgeons-notes-on-an-imperfect-science store_origin: BE region: Belgium --- # Published April 2003 269 pages of surgical insights First edition medical memoir Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science **Price:** € 27.52 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Summary > 🩺 Where science meets the human story — don’t miss the pulse of modern medicine! ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science - **How much does it cost?** € 27.52 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.be](https://www.desertcart.be/products/1524930-complications-a-surgeons-notes-on-an-imperfect-science) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Key Features - • **Cutting-Edge Intuition:** Discover how experience and gut feelings shape surgical outcomes. - • **Real Stories, Real Stakes:** Unfiltered accounts of medical errors and life-or-death decisions. - • **Medical Mysteries Unveiled:** Dive into puzzling topics like pain, nausea, and overeating. - • **Inside the Surgeon’s Mind:** Explore the human side of medicine beyond stats and tech. - • **A Must-Read for Millennial Professionals:** Stay ahead with a nuanced perspective on healthcare’s imperfect science. ## Overview Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science by Atul Gawande is a 269-page first edition paperback published in April 2003. This bestselling medical memoir blends captivating surgical anecdotes with deep reflections on the uncertainties and ethical dilemmas in modern medicine. Praised for its honest exploration of doctoring’s human side, it offers millennial professionals a rare glimpse into the balance of intuition, experience, and science shaping healthcare today. ## Description 2002 National Book Award Finalist for Nonfiction “No one writes about medicine as a human subject as well as Atul Gawande. His stories about becoming a surgeon are scary, funny, absorbing....Complications is a uniquely soulful book about the science of mending bodies.” ― Adam Gopnik, author of Paris to the Moon In gripping accounts of true cases, surgeon Atul Gawande explores the power and the limits of medicine, offering an unflinching view from the scalpel's edge. This book is exploratory surgery on medicine itself, laying bare a science not in its idealized form but as it actually is―uncertain, perplexing, and profoundly human. In dramatic and revealing stories of patients and doctors, he explores how deadly mistakes occur and why good surgeons go bad. At once tough-minded and humane, Complications is a new kind of medical writing, nuanced and lucid, unafraid to confront the conflicts and uncertainties that lie at the heart of modern medicine, yet always alive to the possibilities of wisdom in this extraordinary endeavor. Review: The human side of doctoring - This book was a fascinating look into the modern doctors world. It is a job more defined by statistics than in the past, but personality and experience still play a great part. I really enjoyed reading this doctor/author's book book on Checklists and their usage in medicine so I was not disappointed with his more random thoughts on doctoring in general. Some of it is quite unsettling as in the case of surgery and interns learning. You hate to be a learning experience when your life is at stake, but how else do interns learn? Still...most doctors insist that their loved ones, are not part of this experience. Doesn't seem really fair; does it? Doctors like everyone else do better with practice, and this is well demonstrated with these specialized practices that only do Hernia operations. It also makes it possible for robots and computers to be quite effective at simple procedures. However that gives me pause. Here the blue screen of death might have greater implications than a reboot. I liked the fact where he dealt with some of his mistakes and diagnoses of patients and how there was a struggle of procedure and how to approach things. One person was nearly harmed by a minor oversight and another person was saved with a hunch. Given that both of these areas (oversights and hunches) are in the gray areas of human cognition it shows how much luck plays a factor, or a sixth sense, that doctors with experience start to develop. A quick synopsis of what this book includes: INTRODUCTION FALLABILITY *Education of a knife: How interns are trained in surgery. Odds are, you are their training. *The computer and the hernia factory: Repetition = perfection and efficiency *When doctors make mistakes: How mistakes happen. Like all of us they are human, but unlike all of us the ramifications are greater. *Nine Thousand Surgeons: Conferences provide an opportunity to compare notes and keep up to date. *When Good doctors go Bad: Peer review is necessary but whistle blowing on a colleague is rare. Not surprising there are remediation schools, but few and far between. Important note, if some doctors push you away from others...take note. MYSTERY Full Moon/Friday the 13th: Is there any truth to this. Statistically no, but the jury is still out. The pain perplex: Pain stumps most doctors as how and why it exists is not clear cut.There is no test for pain. A queasy feeling: Nausea is not one symptom, nor does it have a single cause and can be very difficult to treat. Crimson tide: Blushing, for some it undermines their confidence, but is it only cosmetic? The man who couldn't stop eating: Overeating is a life altering issue and surgery to address this is gaining ground as in the case of the morbidly obese, it works. UNCERTAINTY *Final Cut: Autopsy is not done as much any more unless there is a mystery surrounding the death. However, it helps educate doctors as to the accuracy of their diagnoses. Unfortunately to many it is a violation of the dead, who will gain nothing in return. *The dead baby mystery: Sometimes the answers are obvious *Whose body is is anyway: Doctors these days advise, not dictate and patients struggle to make the right choices. *Doctors have to let patients make bad choices despite their objections. *The case of the red leg: Gut feeling are sometimes all you have and often they are dead on. In the absence of this all that is left is statistics. SUMMARY This book was interesting, as it was a mix of topics. Some associated with specific symptoms like pain, blushing and nausea. Others associated with medical errors, bad doctors, cases that were swayed by errors and hunches. If you have any interest in medicine, but not the background, these are great books to read, as you get the human side of it, rather than the scientific. Review: Compelling non-fiction?? Yes - How many non-fiction books have you read which you would describe as “hard to put down?” Describing a work of fiction as such is high praise. Non-fiction? It is a unique thing to write and indeed high praise. “Complications” is hard to stop reading. I appreciate Gawande’s attempts at candor, exposé (which it is not not but approaches), and balance. I appreciate his efforts to provide generalized / generalizable insights, illustrated by poignant anecdotes; and, I appreciate reading his point of view about those aspects of care which defy generalization. All writing has bias. It is inherent even if accepted conventions are followed flawlessly. It is therefore well to acknowledge that statements made in this book are also subject to error; and it is well to illustrate at least one specific instance. The author has written (page 249 of the Kindle edition), “His [Jack Wennberg’s] research has shown, for example, that the likelihood of a doctor sending you for a gallbladder-removal operation varies 270 percent depending on what city you live in; for a hip replacement, 450 percent; for care in an intensive care unit during the last six months of your life, 880 percent. A patient in Santa Barbara, California, is five times more likely to be recommended back surgery for a back pain than one in Bronx, New York. This is, in the main, uncertainty at work, with the varying experience, habits, and intuitions of individual doctors leading to massively different care for people.” The last sentence is inaccurate. Publications available at DartmouthAtlas.org, demonstrate that availability is a statistically significant factor in explaining much of the variation in surgical utilization from region to region. In other words, where surgery centers exist, surgeries which that center specializes in will indeed be done disproportionate to optimal care or even need. Stated more harshly, surgeons get paid to do surgeries. One cannot rule out financial incentive as a reason for the observed phenomenon. ## Features - Author: Gawande, Atul. - Publisher: Picador - Pages: 269 - Publication Date: 2003-04-01 - Edition: First Edition - Binding: Paperback - MSRP: 17.37 - ISBN13: 9780312421700 - ISBN: 0312421702 - Other ISBN: 9781429972109 - Other ISBN Binding: print - Language: en ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | #33,626 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) #4 in General Surgery #10 in Medical Education & Training (Books) #436 in Diseases & Physical Ailments Health | | Customer Reviews | 4.6 out of 5 stars 5,951 Reviews | ## Images ![Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/81d04hxIvGL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ The human side of doctoring *by A***J on May 27, 2012* This book was a fascinating look into the modern doctors world. It is a job more defined by statistics than in the past, but personality and experience still play a great part. I really enjoyed reading this doctor/author's book book on Checklists and their usage in medicine so I was not disappointed with his more random thoughts on doctoring in general. Some of it is quite unsettling as in the case of surgery and interns learning. You hate to be a learning experience when your life is at stake, but how else do interns learn? Still...most doctors insist that their loved ones, are not part of this experience. Doesn't seem really fair; does it? Doctors like everyone else do better with practice, and this is well demonstrated with these specialized practices that only do Hernia operations. It also makes it possible for robots and computers to be quite effective at simple procedures. However that gives me pause. Here the blue screen of death might have greater implications than a reboot. I liked the fact where he dealt with some of his mistakes and diagnoses of patients and how there was a struggle of procedure and how to approach things. One person was nearly harmed by a minor oversight and another person was saved with a hunch. Given that both of these areas (oversights and hunches) are in the gray areas of human cognition it shows how much luck plays a factor, or a sixth sense, that doctors with experience start to develop. A quick synopsis of what this book includes: INTRODUCTION FALLABILITY *Education of a knife: How interns are trained in surgery. Odds are, you are their training. *The computer and the hernia factory: Repetition = perfection and efficiency *When doctors make mistakes: How mistakes happen. Like all of us they are human, but unlike all of us the ramifications are greater. *Nine Thousand Surgeons: Conferences provide an opportunity to compare notes and keep up to date. *When Good doctors go Bad: Peer review is necessary but whistle blowing on a colleague is rare. Not surprising there are remediation schools, but few and far between. Important note, if some doctors push you away from others...take note. MYSTERY Full Moon/Friday the 13th: Is there any truth to this. Statistically no, but the jury is still out. The pain perplex: Pain stumps most doctors as how and why it exists is not clear cut.There is no test for pain. A queasy feeling: Nausea is not one symptom, nor does it have a single cause and can be very difficult to treat. Crimson tide: Blushing, for some it undermines their confidence, but is it only cosmetic? The man who couldn't stop eating: Overeating is a life altering issue and surgery to address this is gaining ground as in the case of the morbidly obese, it works. UNCERTAINTY *Final Cut: Autopsy is not done as much any more unless there is a mystery surrounding the death. However, it helps educate doctors as to the accuracy of their diagnoses. Unfortunately to many it is a violation of the dead, who will gain nothing in return. *The dead baby mystery: Sometimes the answers are obvious *Whose body is is anyway: Doctors these days advise, not dictate and patients struggle to make the right choices. *Doctors have to let patients make bad choices despite their objections. *The case of the red leg: Gut feeling are sometimes all you have and often they are dead on. In the absence of this all that is left is statistics. SUMMARY This book was interesting, as it was a mix of topics. Some associated with specific symptoms like pain, blushing and nausea. Others associated with medical errors, bad doctors, cases that were swayed by errors and hunches. If you have any interest in medicine, but not the background, these are great books to read, as you get the human side of it, rather than the scientific. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Compelling non-fiction?? Yes *by E***Y on January 28, 2023* How many non-fiction books have you read which you would describe as “hard to put down?” Describing a work of fiction as such is high praise. Non-fiction? It is a unique thing to write and indeed high praise. “Complications” is hard to stop reading. I appreciate Gawande’s attempts at candor, exposé (which it is not not but approaches), and balance. I appreciate his efforts to provide generalized / generalizable insights, illustrated by poignant anecdotes; and, I appreciate reading his point of view about those aspects of care which defy generalization. All writing has bias. It is inherent even if accepted conventions are followed flawlessly. It is therefore well to acknowledge that statements made in this book are also subject to error; and it is well to illustrate at least one specific instance. The author has written (page 249 of the Kindle edition), “His [Jack Wennberg’s] research has shown, for example, that the likelihood of a doctor sending you for a gallbladder-removal operation varies 270 percent depending on what city you live in; for a hip replacement, 450 percent; for care in an intensive care unit during the last six months of your life, 880 percent. A patient in Santa Barbara, California, is five times more likely to be recommended back surgery for a back pain than one in Bronx, New York. This is, in the main, uncertainty at work, with the varying experience, habits, and intuitions of individual doctors leading to massively different care for people.” The last sentence is inaccurate. Publications available at DartmouthAtlas.org, demonstrate that availability is a statistically significant factor in explaining much of the variation in surgical utilization from region to region. In other words, where surgery centers exist, surgeries which that center specializes in will indeed be done disproportionate to optimal care or even need. Stated more harshly, surgeons get paid to do surgeries. One cannot rule out financial incentive as a reason for the observed phenomenon. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Easy and interesting read *by G***E on October 24, 2012* Very interesting read for anyone interested in the medical and health system, especially regarding the uncertainty surrounding surgery. Some doctors might have a tendency to talk over your head with medical terminology but that is not the case in this book. I'm a nurse and so my interest in this book came from seeing patients everyday blindly taking the advise of doctors that spent 5 minutes (sometimes even less with them)and letting these doctors make huge life altering decisions for them. The author discusses issues regarding the surgery and the OR. Some people want to believe that surgeons are infallible and that their health decisions are black and white. Gawande talks candidly about the world "behind the OR door" pointing out that doctors are only human, and are limited by several factors discussed in the book. He writes about some touchy end-of-life decision making and the life/death decisions doctors and patients have to make. He even writes about how patients in fact don't really want to make theses decisions and want the doctors to make them. I found the medical stories and example the author used to be engaging and interested, they kept me engaged amid statistics that might otherwise have been dry and boring. If you have blinders when it comes to Doctor and healthcare and don't really want to face the infallibility of our medical system, this book is not for you. I gave this book 4 stars instead of 5 because I think the author could have gone even deeper into several of the subjects he discusses and that would have made for and even more interesting read but in all fairness I think I'm probably in the minority there. ## Frequently Bought Together - Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science - Better: A Surgeon's Notes on Performance - Being Mortal --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.be/products/1524930-complications-a-surgeons-notes-on-an-imperfect-science](https://www.desertcart.be/products/1524930-complications-a-surgeons-notes-on-an-imperfect-science) --- *Product available on Desertcart Belgium* *Store origin: BE* *Last updated: 2026-05-13*