Surgical treatment of orthopaedic trauma

Abstract

The Journal of Bone and Joint Surgery. British volumeVol. 90-B, No. 4 Book ReviewsFree AccessSurgical treatment of orthopaedic trauma Edited by J. P. Stannard, A. H. Schidt and P. J. Kregor Pp. 940. New York: Thieme, 2007. ISBN: 3-13-136941-8. $299.95D. GoodierD. GoodierSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:1 Apr 2008https://doi.org/10.1302/0301-620X.90B4.0900544aAboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsDownload CitationsTrack CitationsPermissionsAdd to Favourites ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmail The first thing to say about this book is that it is not just a book; it is a true multimedia resource. Other textbooks have come with a CD of the text, but the provision of four DVDs with over a hundred separate videos of surgical procedures raises the bar to new heights.As a book, the authors have managed a symmetry to the various chapters, each with sections covering presentation, classification and conservative management. The emphasis however is on surgery, and this is done exceptionally well. There are detailed sections on the surgical anatomy of every region of the body, with careful descriptions of positioning, the choice of surgical approaches, and a wide variety of operative techniques. The text then signals the relevant operative video on a DVD.In terms of the breadth of content, more specialised books on hand surgery for example have the space to cover the minutiae in greater detail than is covered here. In terms of what I would like my trainee to read up on before coming to theatre with me (and in many cases what I would like to read up myself) this is the book I would recommend. The authors have covered the axial skeleton and the soft tissues in detail. Internal fixation is the method of choice in almost every circumstance, but a few more words about external fixation would be welcomed.Pink background panels of ‘tips and tricks’ and ‘pearls’ are very useful additions to the text, and I particularly liked the clear division between well referenced, proven techniques in the main body and a section at the end of most chapters entitled ‘new techniques’. In these sections the authors discuss techniques that are ‘hot’ and being increasingly undertaken as they seem to show promise, but with appropriate warnings about those which have not been validated scientifically.Turning to the videos, two of the DVDs were not initially recognised on my laptop, but worked perfectly on another PC. The clear narration turns each video into a well illustrated lecture, and the set covers most of the conditions likely to be encountered by anyone ‘on call’. Interspersing the moving picture with diagrams at key moments is a useful adjunct, though perhaps under-used.If I were to get picky, it seems that the sections in the book on classification are brief and some are poorly illustrated. More use of colour in some of the pictures would have made them clearer. Given that there are many gigabytes of DVD, I might ask that a searchable electronic text be included. The biggest surprise of this book has to be how little it costs given the time and effort that has obviously been consumed in preparation. I would advise every Specialist Registrar in the country to purchase a copy immediately, and every consultant to borrow it off him!FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 90-B, No. 4 Metrics History Published online 1 April 2008 Published in print 1 April 2008 InformationCopyright © 2008, The British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery: All rights reservedPDF download