Practical procedures in orthopaedic trauma surgery: a trainee’s companion

Abstract

The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British volumeVol. 89-B, No. 12 Book ReviewsFree AccessPractical procedures in orthopaedic trauma surgery: a trainee’s companion Edited by P. V. Giannoudis and H.-C. Pape Pp. 319. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. ISBN: 0-5216-7859-5. £45.00.M. LaurenceM. LaurenceSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Dec 2007https://doi.org/10.1302/0301-620X.89B12.0891676aAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsAdd to Favourites ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail This is a curious book. Only on the internal flyleaf is the subtitle “A Trainee’s Companion”, added, which is important when a work is to be assessed. The foreword describes the book as ‘highly illustrated’. which is an understatement. Operative colour photography is taken beyond its limit, demonstrating the limitation of this mode of illustration; and the several photographs of huge trays of instruments on sterile theatre tables simply show how expensive it has all become. By contrast, the radiographs give much more information about the conditions and the techniques.The book’s message concerns operative fixation of fractures. Ideally, it requires a companion volume on the ‘why and whether’, because several of the cases illustrated would seem to be eminently treatable without surgery. But to cover the whole of fracture management is beyond the scope of any book. This one is aimed at the idle hours in the night when a young resident is already committed to an operation and he wants reassurance as to ‘how’. We still have the age-old conflict between what is possible and what is wise.The text, in punctuate bullet form, is curiously difficult to read because of the shortage of verbs imposed by the tabloid format. This is exaggerated by the difficulty in deciphering the important points from the dash and blur of brilliant shades of red. One point is clear; the authors have an immense experience of internal fixation and an unlimited supply of hardware.There is a place for such a book as this aims to be, but there needs to be more critical planning of the techniques of illustrating the practical points. At the end of the day, there is no substitute for the teacher’s guiding hands in performance.FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 89-B, No. 12 Metrics Downloaded 129 times History Published online 1 December 2007 Published in print 1 December 2007 InformationCopyright © 2007, The British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery: All rights reservedPDF download