Complications: A Surgeon's Notes on an Imperfect Science
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- Create Date：2021-10-16 05:51:43
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：Atul Gawande
- ISBN：1846681324
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Summary
Complications Giving an account of the life of a surgeon， this book looks at what it is like to cut into people's bodies and the - literally life and death - decisions that have to be made。 It includes chronicles of operations that go wrong; of doctors who go to the bad; why autopsies are necessary; and what it feels like to insert your knife into someone。
Reviews
suhasini sathyanarayan
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2。5*
Victoria Reedman
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Atul Gawande is such a medicine legend。 The first essay in the book is extremely accurate in how it describes learning anything in medicine。 I found it validating and hilarious。 I remember feeling the exact same frustration and confusion learning to do lumbar punctures。 After that， I was sold on the rest of the book。 All of his other essays are gorgeous， well researched， thoughtful， and accessible to the general public and healthcare workers。 Nearly all have left me reflecting in my day to day。 Atul Gawande is such a medicine legend。 The first essay in the book is extremely accurate in how it describes learning anything in medicine。 I found it validating and hilarious。 I remember feeling the exact same frustration and confusion learning to do lumbar punctures。 After that， I was sold on the rest of the book。 All of his other essays are gorgeous， well researched， thoughtful， and accessible to the general public and healthcare workers。 Nearly all have left me reflecting in my day to day。 He has such a humble and human voice。 I'm a strong Gawande stan。 。。。more
Jati Hidayat
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A highly readable and at times quite intense little book depicting Dr Gawande's deep reflections on his profession as a doctor and surgeon （his other job is a writer for the esteemed weekly The New Yorker）。Written with deep thoughts， humility and sensitivity he discusses the limitations of the medical science， the fallacies of his colleagues， the fear of the patients， the decision making process of doing or not doing a procedure， the occasional blurry lines separating physiology and psychology。 A highly readable and at times quite intense little book depicting Dr Gawande's deep reflections on his profession as a doctor and surgeon （his other job is a writer for the esteemed weekly The New Yorker）。Written with deep thoughts， humility and sensitivity he discusses the limitations of the medical science， the fallacies of his colleagues， the fear of the patients， the decision making process of doing or not doing a procedure， the occasional blurry lines separating physiology and psychology。 Gawande uses real cases as well as academic papers not just on medicine but also behavioralism 。 It's a a great quick read。 If you are a doctor or works in health care， I really urge you to pick this up。 。。。more
Riley Epperson
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One of my favorite quote from my favorite chapter in this this book is "Everything was going for a cellulitis。 But something was pricking at me， making me alert"。 you can find it on page 231 from the chapter called The Case of the Red Leg。 This quote is the perfect precursor for whats about to happen and and a great example of a doctors intuition。 I love this chapter because it really gets into the rarer bacteria's that are in the world and it really opens your eyes。 This chapter （really the who One of my favorite quote from my favorite chapter in this this book is "Everything was going for a cellulitis。 But something was pricking at me， making me alert"。 you can find it on page 231 from the chapter called The Case of the Red Leg。 This quote is the perfect precursor for whats about to happen and and a great example of a doctors intuition。 I love this chapter because it really gets into the rarer bacteria's that are in the world and it really opens your eyes。 This chapter （really the whole book） really stuck with me because the bacteria （I will leave out spoilers） is so scary and serious and something that I've always wondered about and I'm glad I got to learn more from a real source。 。。。more
Catherine Li
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I like how the author told us stories that we didn’t know as layman about his experiences in surgery and medicine。 This makes me never want to do any surgery if I don’t have to。 Medicine is imperfect and could be an art like other natural science。 I like how the author take a deep thinking， and put it in a philosophical way。
Taylor Caitlin
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"This was not guilt: guilt is what you feel when you have done something wrong。 What I felt was shame: I was what was wrong。"I can see how people not in the medical field would be horrified reading a book like this。 To me， though， it was finally seeing in writing what it feels like to make a medical error， when a complication happens to your patient （expected or unexpected， it sucks either way）， or to try and fail at a skillset you're still learning。 It's not guilt， it's shame to not be perfect "This was not guilt: guilt is what you feel when you have done something wrong。 What I felt was shame: I was what was wrong。"I can see how people not in the medical field would be horrified reading a book like this。 To me， though， it was finally seeing in writing what it feels like to make a medical error， when a complication happens to your patient （expected or unexpected， it sucks either way）， or to try and fail at a skillset you're still learning。 It's not guilt， it's shame to not be perfect 100% of the time。 Our field （human and veterinary） is constantly changing， growing， and evolving so "complications" will never be completely eliminated。 Being receptive and able to learn from them can only make us all better。 。。。more
Jasmine
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Rating clarification: 3。5 starsWhile Complications was on my to-read list first， I ended up reading Being Mortal before picking this on up。 I found it an interesting and insightful book overall， but I definitely felt that Complications was probably a little less mature in its tone and pacing than Being Mortal。 It has a similar vibe to Oliver Sack's compilation of medical stories but without the same feeling of wisdom and experience。 In particular， the middle section on "Mystery" seemed weaker th Rating clarification: 3。5 starsWhile Complications was on my to-read list first， I ended up reading Being Mortal before picking this on up。 I found it an interesting and insightful book overall， but I definitely felt that Complications was probably a little less mature in its tone and pacing than Being Mortal。 It has a similar vibe to Oliver Sack's compilation of medical stories but without the same feeling of wisdom and experience。 In particular， the middle section on "Mystery" seemed weaker than the first and third， as it seemed to lack the same excitement and wonder that those two sections had， and didn't have as much of a feeling that we were getting a "behind-the-scenes" look at the mysterious world of surgery and hospitals。 In fact， it seemed a little like filler material as Gawande rattled off facts and statistics for random stories that I just didn't connect with。The book does have inklings of Gawande's voice of compassion and humanity in Being Mortal， which I enjoy， and there are various good chapters on unexpected oddities and unknown aspects of surgical medicine too。 。。。more
Kori
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Maybe it’s just because i haven’t read a lot of physician-written books yet， but I really enjoyed the various narratives and perspectives presented in this book。 It makes me so excited to become a doctor。
Hannah
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Engaging story telling with some real thought provoking analyses of the medical profession。
Brittney
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Audiobook。 The medical descriptions got a bit gritty for me at times， but it was interesting stuff to consider， even when answers elude us。 Favorite chapter covered nausea。
Stephanie
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A fascinating look inside operating rooms - watch out， its real-life graphically recalled
Socrate
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Atul Gawande şi-a ales cea mai grea misiune pentru un chirurg: să scrie despre complicaţii。 Să scrie deci o carte despre un subiect care pare să nu existe。 Nu cunosc niciun chirurg în activitate care să recunoască faptul că are complicaţii。 Nu se pomeneşte despre aşa ceva， conform ideii că， dacă nu vorbeşti despre complicaţii， ele chiar încetează să apară。 Sau， cel puţin， credem că e bine să nu vorbim în public despre eşecuri， despre insuccese， despre greşeli， despre tot ceea ce merge， după o in Atul Gawande şi-a ales cea mai grea misiune pentru un chirurg: să scrie despre complicaţii。 Să scrie deci o carte despre un subiect care pare să nu existe。 Nu cunosc niciun chirurg în activitate care să recunoască faptul că are complicaţii。 Nu se pomeneşte despre aşa ceva， conform ideii că， dacă nu vorbeşti despre complicaţii， ele chiar încetează să apară。 Sau， cel puţin， credem că e bine să nu vorbim în public despre eşecuri， despre insuccese， despre greşeli， despre tot ceea ce merge， după o intervenţie chirurgicală， altfel decât ne-am dori atât noi， chirurgii， cât şi pacienţii noştri。 Despre abaterile nefericite de la planul de tratament。 O carte cu un subiect antipatic， pe care în literatura română de specialitate nu a îndrăznit să-l abordeze decât un singur chirurg， profesorul Dan Setlacec （Chirurgul şi lumea sa， 2004）。Atul Gawande s-a născut în 1965 în Brooklyn， New York， într-o familie de medici imigranţi indieni; este chirurg la Brigham and Women’s Hospital din Boston şi profesor la Harvard Medical School。 Scriitor de elită （are o rubrică permanentă la New Yorker）， este produsul celei mai bune şcoli medicale din lume， locul la care se raportează， vrând-nevrând， tot ceea ce contează în medicina contemporană。 Prima lui carte， Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science， publicată în 2002， a devenit un bestseller tradus în peste o sută de ţări; şi， iată， e tradusă acum şi în România。 Cartea încearcă să explice， să lămurească， să aducă problemele chirurgiei （uneori foarte grele， întotdeauna pasionante） în faţa cititorilor din afara lumii medicale。 Şi asta spre binele tuturor， pacienţi， familii şi， nu în ultimul rând， medici。 。。。more
Amy
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As a novel med student， I feel I can only describe this book in one word: reassuring Grateful for the timing at which I read this - having started attending my lectures in medical school， I could appreciate it on a much， much deeper level。Beautifully peppered with real life casesThe first non fiction book I didn't have to make myself read :）Nov - Dec 2020 As a novel med student， I feel I can only describe this book in one word: reassuring Grateful for the timing at which I read this - having started attending my lectures in medical school， I could appreciate it on a much， much deeper level。Beautifully peppered with real life casesThe first non fiction book I didn't have to make myself read :）Nov - Dec 2020 。。。more
Michelle Angelle
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Could not put this book down。 My usual go-to is fiction， but this read exactly like a novel。Engrossing， disturbing， and another glimpse of being human。
Leila
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I loved this。 I got it in the audiobook version and it caught me off guard because the narration felt like a robot。 however being a surgical resident， I felt this on every level。 I think it’s good for everyone to read or listen to。 I personally believe there’s a large misconception about physicians but more specifically surgeons。
Vikram Goyal
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Complications examines the uncertainties and complexities that doctors must grapple with as they go about treating their patients。 Through various medical anecdotes， Dr。 Gawande skillfully shines the light on the medical profession and raises some profound questionsDr Atul Gawande wrote this book as a surgical resident and it arises from his experiences during eight years of training in general surgery。Many of the anecdotes in the book unfold like suspense thrillers and keep you on the edge。 S Complications examines the uncertainties and complexities that doctors must grapple with as they go about treating their patients。 Through various medical anecdotes， Dr。 Gawande skillfully shines the light on the medical profession and raises some profound questionsDr Atul Gawande wrote this book as a surgical resident and it arises from his experiences during eight years of training in general surgery。Many of the anecdotes in the book unfold like suspense thrillers and keep you on the edge。 Some of them are fascinating and some disturbing。 Yet， each of them leaves you with an invaluable lesson。The book is divided into three sections。 - Section 1 examines the fallibility of doctors。 It discusses how a novice doctor learns to wield a knife， what a good doctor is and how could a good doctor go bad。- Section 2 focusses on mysteries and unknowns of medicines and the struggles that ensue as a result。 It highlights stories of an architect with an incapacitating back pain in whom no physical explanation could be found， a television newscaster whose blushing became so severe that she could no longer function in her job。- Section 3 focusses on uncertainty itself — how much in medicine doctors know and how much doctors don’t。 And how doctors might grapple with this ignorance more wisely。Overall， this is a worthy read that helps you understand the unenviable task of savings lives that Doctors encounter every day and the complications that arise as a result。 Highly recommended for everyone who is enthusiastic about the medical profession in general！PS - Here are my detailed notes from the book: https://vikramgoyal2012。medium。com/bo。。。 。。。more
Brad Erickson
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More like 3。5 stars。 Mostly engaging， at times a little too cerebral for me。
Natalie Palmquist
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I found this book on a coffee shop shelf and couldn't put it down。 It is a fascinating journey into the mind of an incredibly reflective surgeon who explains complex medical operations in every day language。 Atul Gawande executes the kind of self-evaluation each of us should be inspired to engage in throughout our careers。 The way we interact with people matters， the way we lean on our intuition matters， and the way we wrestle through uncertainty in complicated situations matters。 I would recomm I found this book on a coffee shop shelf and couldn't put it down。 It is a fascinating journey into the mind of an incredibly reflective surgeon who explains complex medical operations in every day language。 Atul Gawande executes the kind of self-evaluation each of us should be inspired to engage in throughout our careers。 The way we interact with people matters， the way we lean on our intuition matters， and the way we wrestle through uncertainty in complicated situations matters。 I would recommend this book to anyone。 Thank you Dr。 Gawande for an incredible read。 。。。more
Jia Cherng
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For anyone going into surgery—both as a patient and a surgeon—this is a perfect book to read。 It explains in depth the conundrums of the medical industry。 One striking one early in the book was the difficulty to balance between giving a patient the best and most experienced hand to care for them or giving opportunities to juniors to gain the necessary expertise and skills and thus provide better service in the future。 This quandary partially led to the current state of affairs where physicians a For anyone going into surgery—both as a patient and a surgeon—this is a perfect book to read。 It explains in depth the conundrums of the medical industry。 One striking one early in the book was the difficulty to balance between giving a patient the best and most experienced hand to care for them or giving opportunities to juniors to gain the necessary expertise and skills and thus provide better service in the future。 This quandary partially led to the current state of affairs where physicians are only able to be successful well into middle age。There was an interesting discussion in the book on patient's autonomy。 In a book by a Yale doctor named jay Katz， "The Silent World Of Doctor And Patient'， Jay argued that medical decisions should and could be made by patients。 The example provided was that of a young woman with breast cancer。 She had two choices， mastectomy， or surgery and live with the possibility that the tumour will surface again。 Neither decision will lead to an ideal situation， and the consequences will largely be up to the woman's priorities， which are different in every person and cannot be predicted by the doctor。 Yet in "The Practice of Autonomy" by Carl Scheider， by analyzing patients memoirs， Carl concluded that the ill are in a bad position to make choices， they were frequently exhausted， irritable， despondent。 They did not have the concentration or energy to weigh the decisions beyond what is in front of them nor the fervent understanding of the scientific consequences behind each medical intervention。 To understand this better， you have to know that there are no rules regulating patient-doctor interactions in this regard， which is why the understanding of what matters is so important。 This discussion led me to the conclusion that as a doctor， giving full autonomy to most patients is merely putting away responsibility; they have to make sure they lead patients down the right path， give fervent suggestions when needed， and ultimately， to stay kind， patient and calm。A great book with a number of many intriguing discussions and debates， most of which you've never thought about until it is too late to do so。 。。。more
Marley Ogao
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1/5: I am not a surgeon。 But， if I were， I’d ask that if someone were to write about my line of work， at least do it in a way that doesn’t put the reader to sleep。 The topics were quite interesting。 I just wish they were written in a way that didn’t make my eyes struggle to stay open。
Catherine
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I have no choice but to give 5 stars to king Gawande。 I didn’t realize how many years ago this book was published - 2003 - which makes me wish there was a published version of Complications for 2021。There was a lot of interesting information in here that I didn’t know， and some that I did。 For example， when discussing pain， Gawande refers to pain as the 5th vital sign as something pretty new。 Today this is common practice。 I also really love how he talks about himself and his family， and some of I have no choice but to give 5 stars to king Gawande。 I didn’t realize how many years ago this book was published - 2003 - which makes me wish there was a published version of Complications for 2021。There was a lot of interesting information in here that I didn’t know， and some that I did。 For example， when discussing pain， Gawande refers to pain as the 5th vital sign as something pretty new。 Today this is common practice。 I also really love how he talks about himself and his family， and some of the complications they’ve experienced too。 I think it’s easy to sometimes view advanced practitioners as being untouchable by poor health due to their profession， but this is in fact the opposite。 I love how Gawande focuses on the human connection in medicine as this is so important today and I feel I see it more and more as a nurse at my hospital。 Will read anything he publishes in the future <3 （also I own the checklist manifesto that’s now on my list to read by the end of the year） 。。。more
Sarah
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It’s a really goo really interesting read。 I highly recommend
Cindy
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Insightful。 Worth reading by anyone who will ever be in the hands of the medical profession。。。 that's right。。。 everyone。 Insightful。 Worth reading by anyone who will ever be in the hands of the medical profession。。。 that's right。。。 everyone。 。。。more
Jacqueline A Kane
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This narrative gave me a different view of the life， training， and work of doctors。
Karen Z
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Reading medical memoirs or books is one of my favorite things to do and sometimes I find myself disappointed。 I originally read “being mortal” from the same author and I didn’t like it。 I wasn’t the target audience or demographic for it so I found it boring and useless。This book however was great！ The writing flowed and it was incredibly interesting to read。 He discussed so many aspects of medicine and health that it felt like an ongoing discussion。
Nicole
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From what I can tell， the Author is well known in the USA and has quite a following with the part of his career that is as a Writer。 However， being based in Australia， I was unaware of this before reading。 I was drawn to the book as I thought his surgical insight would be interesting to read about。 Unfortunately， I felt this book wasn’t what I was expecting and didn’t connect or flow well。 The book switches between his own （or researched） real life cases， historical info and “questions” he raise From what I can tell， the Author is well known in the USA and has quite a following with the part of his career that is as a Writer。 However， being based in Australia， I was unaware of this before reading。 I was drawn to the book as I thought his surgical insight would be interesting to read about。 Unfortunately， I felt this book wasn’t what I was expecting and didn’t connect or flow well。 The book switches between his own （or researched） real life cases， historical info and “questions” he raises （e。g。 is it the patient or surgeon who makes the decisions）。 There are moments of interest， but overall it didn’t come together for me。 。。。more
Brooke
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MKH
Sarthak
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It was a good book taught me behind the scenes
Arianna Piech
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I read Being Mortal， I'm in the middle of reading Better， and I just completed this book， Complicated。 Gawande never seems to disappoint。 This book is divided into three parts:1） Fallibility: a discussion on why and how mistakes happen， how doctors learn， and what it means to be a good doctor。2） Mystery: The struggles of medicine that often go unexplained， and how they are dealt with by doctors。3） Uncertainty: How doctors make decisions in the face of uncertainty。I think this book is an absolute I read Being Mortal， I'm in the middle of reading Better， and I just completed this book， Complicated。 Gawande never seems to disappoint。 This book is divided into three parts:1） Fallibility: a discussion on why and how mistakes happen， how doctors learn， and what it means to be a good doctor。2） Mystery: The struggles of medicine that often go unexplained， and how they are dealt with by doctors。3） Uncertainty: How doctors make decisions in the face of uncertainty。I think this book is an absolute must for anyone considering a career in health care。 It hits you face first with the type of challenges you will likely encounter， but also provides some reassurance that with training and practice you can succeed。 It stresses the fact that medicine involves life long learning and diligence， while also acknowledging that sometimes， no matter how hard you may try， we are all human and make errors。 I think Gawande struck the perfect balance of imparting wisdom and story telling。 Each chapter was riveting and in the last chapter I really felt like I was reading a mystery and kept turning pages and holding out hope for his patient， Eleanor。 I also enjoyed seeing that there was some overlap between Being Mortal and Complications， in the chapter Whose Body Is It Anyways？I am excited to finish Better and begin the Checklist Manifesto to round out my reading of Gawande。 。。。more
Brittany
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