Bull's Handbook of Sports Injuries, ed 2.

Bull's Handbook of Sports Injuries, ed 2 Roberts WO, ed. New York, NY 10121-2298, McGraw-Hill, Medical Publishing Division, 2004, paperback, 853 pp, illus, ISBN: 0-07-140291-8, $64.95.

This compact text contains 45 chapters that encompass many aspects of sports medicine injury and prevention. Sixty-five contributors, primarily physicians from the areas of orthopedics and sports medicine, collaborated on this text. The purpose of the book is to provide sports medicine specialists with a comprehensive resource for examination and treatment of the active patient.

The book is organized into 3 sections: "Issues," "Injury and Illness," and "Sport-Specific Issues." The first section deals with general issues and essential background information needed to care for athletes and active people. Ten chapters make up this section and include topics such as rehabilitation, drugs and ergogenic aids, emergency sideline care, return to play, muscle training and conditioning, and endurance training. The chapter on return to play is especially helpful with a stepwise approach that the sports medicine specialist can easily follow. The rehabilitation chapter provides only general principles of injury rehabilitation and an introduction to physical therapy.

The second section addresses problems associated with specific joints and activity issues related to injury and illness in athletes. The 28 chapters in this section cover topics such as head injuries and concussions; eye injuries; ear, nose, and throat injuries; dental injuries; dermatology; and all major joints. Detailed descriptions of common injuries are provided in each chapter. Some of these chapters would not benefit the physical therapist who practices in a traditional clinical setting, but would be useful to the therapist who works the sideline of various sports. For example, the chapter titled "Neck, Spinal Cord, and Back" was dedicated to examination and management of traumatic spine injuries.

The final section is devoted to sports medicine injuries associated with specific sports. Common sports such as basketball, football, baseball, and gymnastics are discussed, as well as sports with smaller numbers of participants such as cross-country skiing and lacrosse. Some redundancies are found between the chapters that deal with specific anatomical areas and those that deal with sport-specific injuries, but the different perspectives taken by the various authors are beneficial. I do appreciate the inclusion of the biomechanical cause of injuries in the chapters on running, cycling, and golf.

Five appendixes round out the text. The first appendix is the "Team Physician Consensus Statement," followed by appendixes titled "Sideline Preparedness," "Conditioning of Athletes," "Return-to-Play Issues" and "The Female Athlete," all geared to the team physician. I could see where these appendixes would be very helpful to the team physician in providing useful information. For example, the "Sideline Preparedness" appendix provides a detailed checklist of on-site medical supplies.

Most chapters follow a common format that includes the following sections: "Quick Look," "Introduction," Epidemiology," "Pathophysiology," "Injuries," "Evaluation," "Management," "Confounding Conditions," "Prevention," "Sideline Tips," and "Summary." The "Quick Look" at the beginning of the chapter is a nice feature that allows the reader to scan for topics covered in that chapter. Several chapters include figures and line drawings that are useful supplements to the text. References are found after most chapters, but few are references to evidence-based studies.

The information is current with regard to medical management. However, the rehabilitation portion of most chapters is too general to aid the sports physical therapist. In my opinion, this book is useful as a quick reference to detailed information on a specific sports-related injury or medical condition. To that extent, I would recommend it as a guide to the medical management, rather than the physical therapist management, of sports injuries.

Janice K Loudon, PT, PhD, SCS

University of Kansas Medical Center

Kansas City, Kan

Dr Loudon is Associate Professor in the Department of Physical Therapy and Rehabilitation Sciences the University of Kansas Medical Center. She has more than 20 years of clinical experience in orthopedics. Her research interest is the study of biomechanics and prevention of injuries in sports.