Sepsis and infection are the major enemies of the intensive care patient in whom immunological defenses are severely impaired. This major problem is thefocus of attention in this book, based on the presentation of the First International Congress on the Immune Consequences of Trauma, Shock, and Sepsis, which is one of the first attempts to exchange ideas on the state-of-the-art in this area of immunology. Both basic and clinical research, including new centres of attention, are described. The growing role of immunology in medicine opens new avenues to the under- standing of trauma and sepsis and will allow the design of novel therapeutic approaches.