Athletic Training and Sports Medicine, ed 4.

Athletic Training and Sports Medicine, Ed 4 Starkey C, Johnson G, eds. Sudbury, MA 01776, Jones and Barlett Publishers, 2005, hardcover, 705 pp, illus, ISBN: 0-7637-0536-5, $97.95.

This text is well organized, well written, and enriched with clear tables, figures, and pictures. The book presents an integrated management approach to injuries related to athletic activities and sports.

There are 3 main sections. Throughout the text, there is an abundant use of figures and tables with additional and clear division of clinical techniques and surgical techniques. (A quick reference guide to these figures and tables can be found on the inside cover of the book.) Each chapter in section 2 also concludes with a rehabilitation section that consists of information regarding exercise and other rehabilitation management approaches.

Section 1 consists of 4 chapters, each providing a general overview. These chapters discuss integrated injury management, from the pathomechanics of the injury through diagnosis and management, to rehabilitation and return to sports; soft-tissue and bone injury management from qualities of tissue and injury classification to management; and therapeutic medications, covering issues such as storage and dispensing, classes of medication, and a good overview of and-inflammatory and analgesic drugs.

Section 2, dried "Regional Pathologies," is well organized and follows a consistent structure. Chapters 5 through 7 cover lower-extremity conditions and injuries. Each condition begins with an overview and description (and includes a clinical presentation box with a list of characteristics of the injury, history, mechanism of injury, symptoms, and functional status of the athlete), followed by a differential diagnosis, imaging techniques, definite diagnosis, pathomechanics, and functional limitations. The text continues with immediate management and medications, surgical intervention, and post-injury and postoperative management and concludes with injury-specific treatment and rehabilitation concerns, estimation of time lost from sports, and return-to-play criteria.

Following these chapters, a full chapter is dedicated to additional lower-extremity therapeutic exercises. It covers flexibility, strengthening, proprioception, function, and agility, as well as athletic consideration for running and sport-specific activities.

Chapters 10 through 12 cover the upper extremity and follow the same organization as above. A full chapter on additional upper-extremity therapeutic exercises follows. This chapter contains a throwing protocol that will be of interest to anyone who has ever worked with a throwing athlete.

Chapters 14 through 16 focus on the spine and the trunk. Once again, these chapters are neatly organized and follow the same consistent pattern. Figures and tables are appropriate and helpful. Some sections in these chapters will be of more benefit to athletic trainers than physical therapists in a clinic setting. They present catastrophic injuries, injuries that require emergency medicine, and injuries that require specific on-field and sideline examination and management. Chapter 17 follows with additional therapeutic exercises for the spine and torso.

Chapters 18 through 20 conclude section 2 with topics such as injuries to the head, face, and related structures and exertional heat illnesses. These chapters may be of more use to clinicians working closely with athletes and athletic trainers.

Section 3 consists of 4 chapters on specific populations. These chapters are well organized and well structured and would serve as good starting points for clinicians interested in these topics. Chapters 21 and 22 discuss pediatric, adolescent, and aging populations. They describe these populations and unique considerations and special approaches to prevention, safety, and management. I found chapter 23 to be of particular interest to physical therapists. It discusses the industrial setting, and reviews such topics as worker and work environment assessments, injury prevention, and rehabilitation, highlighting return to work/function.

Chapter 24 concludes the book by discussing athletes with disabilities or, as the authors write, "with different abilities." I found 2 tables in this chapter to be very interesting. One table offers a functional classification system of categories and classes for athletes with disabilities, and the other is a participation possibility chart based on the previous classification. I believe that anyone who is involved with handicapped sports will find these of use.

In conclusion, Athletic Training and Sports Medicine is an excellent text for physical therapists and athletic trainers. Clinicians or students reading this text should have a prior knowledge of anatomy and understanding of assessment and treatment principles. With regard to rehabilitation, this book does not present in-depth principles of evaluation or the clinical reasoning process that led to a mechanical diagnosis or treatment selection or progression, but it is not intended to. It is a rich and organized text. Navigation in the book for quick reference is easy, and it has practical information.

Daniel Rovny, PT

Kessler Rehabilitation Centers, NovaCare and Hudson Physical Therapy Riverdale, NJ

Rovny is a Regional Director for Kessler Rehabilitation Centers, NovaCare and Hudson UE. He specializes in management of orthopedic mechanical disorders and athletic performance enhancement.