Every major war brings with it a renewed interest in and a better understanding of the peripheral nerves, the results of their injury and the most appropriate forms of treatment. Our own Civil War contributed Weir Mitchell's classic studies of causalgia. The first World War brought a much better understanding of the surgical treatment of injuries of the peripheral nerves and the brilliant experimental studies of Carl G. Huber (whose work is referred to but once, and the very briefly, in this monograph). World War II taught us much and also brought forth many ideas which were tried, found wanting, and completely or largely discarded. Most outstanding of the many additions to our knowledge are the value of sympathectomy in the treatment of causalgia, the importance of early surgical repair, the dangers of prolonged immobilization and inactivity.
Although there have been many shorter, individual publications in this field during and