The best 10 clinical articles for the last 50 years from the Division of General Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

PURPOSE: The aim of the review was to present the best 10 clinical articles for the last 50 years (1956-2006) from the Division of General Surgery, Hospital for Sick Children (HSC), Toronto, Canada. These articles were judged by the major change (impact) in clinical practice of pediatric general surgery after their publication.

METHODS

All clinical articles from 1956 to 2006 inclusively written by members of the division (while working at HSC) were evaluated. The 2 authors of this article (retired honorary staff surgeon and recently trained chief surgical resident/fellow) separately rated the articles. Each lead author (if possible) was asked to comment on "the significance of their paper, then and now." If the lead author was unavailable, 1 of the 2 authors of this article commented on the articles.

RESULTS

The best 10 clinical articles selected involved spleen trauma, necrotizing enterocolitis, esophageal replacement, Hirschsprung's disease, tracheal compression, fecal incontinence, gastroesophageal reflux, diaphragmatic hernia, and ruptured appendix. There were 8 staff members and 5 surgical residents/fellows who were lead authors, along with 10 staff from other divisions, departments, and/or hospitals.

CONCLUSION

The conservative management of splenic trauma was judged the best article from this Division that made the largest clinical impact for the last 50 years.