Edward V. Craig and Beth E. Shubin-Stein, 136 pages, Taylor & Francis group 2004 ISBN 1-84214-185-6
This new Atlas aims to be a reference guide on the most common orthopedic disorders for the clinician as well as for those who are training for a career in orthopedics. The goal of this book has been to illustrate a wide range of orthopedic conditions that are representative of the field and its subspecialties. The aim has not been to cover all principles of orthopedic practice, but to bring the most common and most clinically relevant issues to our notice.
The Atlas is divided into 8 chapters: hand and wrist, elbow, shoulder, hip, knee, foot and ankle, spine, and pediatrics. Each chapter covers anatomy, history and physical examination, diagnostic studies and includes a summary of disorders.
The anatomy part of each chapter gives information. In the first chapter about hand and wrist the authors, for example, write “the wrist or carpus connects the radius and ulna with the hand”. Furthermore, only bones, ligaments and tendons are referred to. These parts lack biomechanical, muscular, vascular and neural information.
The history and physical examination parts are not very informative; for instance, “provocative manoeuvres are used to test ligaments and tendon injuries”. Such phrases are common, but when not explained or demonstrated they serve little purpose and the relation to pathology remains unclear. The diagnostic parts of each chapter give superficial information, for example, “plain radiographs are valuable and MR imaging can often be a useful tool”. The authors do not mention what type of radiographs or MR settings could be useful for any particular type of disorder. Also, what value the different kind of diagnostics may have is not explained.
The sections in which disorders are described, through a series of high-quality illustrations and drawings with accompanying legends, are the most comprehensive parts of this Atlas.
The list of references is limited to 8 well-known textbooks. The layout is very good and all subjects are well indexed and easy to find. This type of Atlas may be appropriate for medical students, nurses or general practitioners who want to get acquainted with the very basics of a variety of orthopedic disorders, but in my opinion it is of little value to the clinician and to those who are training for a career in orthopedics.