Surgical Internet at a Glance:Volume IX

Jeff Allen, MD, Louisville, Kentucky

The American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons(ASCRS) is a professional society representing over1,000 colorectal surgeons as well as other surgeons

dedicated to the diagnosis and treatment of patients withdiseases and disorders affecting the colon, rectum, andanus. The web page for this organization is located athttp://www.fascrs.org/. It is a well-made frame-based pageworth visiting.

The patient information section of the home page isuncommonly well-done with 19 topics covered. Each topicis actually a web page unto itself called brochures. Thesebrochures are principally grouped by disease process; how-ever, extra topics, such as “What is an ostomy?”, are alsocovered. Patients with an anal fissure who visit www.fac-srs.org will find answers to the questions “What is an analfissure?” “What causes an anal fissure?” “How can it betreated?” “What can be done if a fissure doesn’t heal?”“What does surgery involve?” and “Can a fissure turn intocancer?” Included in the answers are diagrams of the patho-physiology of the disease as well as an illustration of alateral internal sphincterotomy. Similar sections, which arein the frequently asked questions format, cover the diag-noses of Crohn’s disease, colorectal cancer, incontinence,diverticular disease, hemorrhoids, irritable bowel disease,rectal prolapse, and pilonidal disease to name a few.

At the end of each patient brochure is the answer to thequestion, “What is a colorectal surgeon?” This web pagestates, “Colon and rectal surgeons are experts in the surgi-cal and nonsurgical treatment of colon and rectal prob-lems. They have completed advanced training in the treat-ment of colon and rectal problems in addition to fulltraining in general surgery. Colon and rectal surgeons treatbenign and malignant conditions, perform routine screen-ing examinations and surgically treat problems when nec-essary.” It follows with “The executive office of the 1,800-member American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons islocated in the Chicago suburb of Arlington Heights.Board-certified colon and rectal surgeons complete a resi-dency in general surgery, plus an additional year in colonand rectal surgery. They also pass an intensive examinationconducted by the American Board of Colon and RectalSurgery administered after successful completion of writtenand oral examinations conducted by the American Board

of Surgery.” In addition, web page visitors are given anopportunity to find a colorectal surgeon in their area,searching by state. The query returns a list of societymembers sorted by city. Many members have e-mail ad-dresses listed as well as a direct e-mail link. In this way, apatient afflicted with a colorectal disease may visit the webpage of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Sur-geons, read-up on the diagnosis, and then contact a colo-rectal surgeon in the immediate area by direct e-mail.

Practice parameters developed by the standards task forceof the society are well described at this internet stop.Topics covered include treatment of hemorrhoids, analfissures, rectal carcinoma, sigmoid diverticulitis, fistula-in-ano, and colitis. These generally follow the format thatincludes logic for the practice parameter, statement of theproblem, diagnosis, treatment, complications, and refer-ences. Some of the more complex issues are augmented bysupporting documentation, which refers to tables, surveyresults, and more raw type data leading to the conclusionsof the authors. This section is directed toward physicians.

The remainder of the site is dedicated to the organizationitself, and includes a section on the ASCRS Council, alisting of over 20 committees, and a calendar of events.The council page lists this year’s officers, the members-at-large, and the administrative office staff. Among commit-tees described are the credentials, residents, self-assess-ment, and young surgeons committees. Within thecalendar section are the upcoming dates for the ACSRSmeetings through the year 2003. Look forward to visitingBoston, San Diego, Chicago, and New Orleans in thefuture years according to the web page.

The page also includes a featured link to “The PeripateticSurgeon” at http://www.jcoller.com/ascrs/peripatetic.html. This page, according to author John A. Coller, MDis “intended to be a never ending sail through the labyrinthof cyberspace.” This is a list of annotated links from topicssuch as arts and humanities, sports, science, entertainment,and government. The author’s favorite web pages are listedand provide a good foray into the nonsurgical web for thebeginning world-wide-web user. Overall, the web page forAmerican Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons is wellmade, easy to navigate, and represents time well spent onthe internet.

Am J Surg. 1999;177:441.Address correspondence to Jeff Allen, MD, 1114 Everett Ave-nue, Louisville, Kentucky 40204.E-mail address: jeffa@iglou.com

SURGICAL INTERNET

© 1999 by Excerpta Medica, Inc. 0002-9610/99/$–see front matter 441All rights reserved. PII S0002-9610(98)00094-X