The reader is enthusiastically encouraged to tackle this second edition text in two ways. The first is simply to scan chapters with their introductions, summaries and conclusion points. Second, is to delve into those sections of seeming greater interest depending upon one s s- cialty and role. The expansion and quality of this material speak to the success of the first edition by these editors and many similar authors. In addition, the continued and enlarged interest in computer assisted Orthopedic surgery indicates the relevance and enduring importance of this advance in our field of...

Orthopaedic surgery is urr c ently just a few moments past the sunrise of computer implementation for the per- formance of surgery itself. OUT pe s cialty has always seemed to have a nearly unique. over arching characteristic -it deals almost exclusively with alteration, typically rebuilding or reconstituting. structure. What we do has more of a structural impact than a physiologic one, even when compared to the structural alterations introduced by vascular and cardiac surgery_ This structural reconstitution contrasts strongly with the largely excisional haracteri c stic of most other ur...