Outline of Fractures: Including Joint Injuries, ed 11.

Outline of Fractures: Including Joint Injuries, ed 11 Adams JC, Hamblen DL. Philadelphia, PA 19106, Churchill Livingstone Inc, 1999, paperback, 332 pp, illus, ISBN: 0-443-06027-4, $39.95.

This book is a reference that covers fractures of the spine and lower extremities, including various fracture types, their mechanism, physiology of healing, and basic conservative and surgical management. The target audience of this text is primarily medical students and orthopedic surgeons, but the authors also direct the text to physical therapists and all practitioners who manage patients with orthopedic conditions.

The book is divided into 16 chapters, covering subjects such as the pathophysiology of fractures and healing, radiographic and imaging appearance of fractures, basic treatment (surgical and nonoperative), and description of the common types of fractures seen in the spine and extremities. An appendix lists a number of references, which, although not exhaustive, do represent recent and also historical perspectives on the specific types of fractures the book reviews.

The text attempts to integrate the conservative with the surgical approach to fracture management, but its general approach is primarily conservative, and it provides a very basic description of surgical intervention. The illustrations are easy to understand but are quite rudimentary in their appearance. The text is written in a "handy" format and could serve as a basic reference for the practitioner who cares for patients with orthopedic conditions. It is by no means exhaustive, and, if advanced information on fracture management is required, the reader would need to go to another resource that describes treatment in detail.

There is a very short paragraph mentioning rehabilitation. The authors do describe the importance of rehabilitation and make a very nice reference to the need for patients to go through a recuperative period following the adequate stabilization of their fractures. The pictures included in the section on rehabilitation are archaic and nonsensical. Although the authors seem to have a modern view of the importance of physical therapy and rehabilitation, the diagrams and pictures of exercises and examples of physical therapy interventions are anachronistic and almost laughable.

I found this text to be useful as a basic reference on fractures. It essentially is an "outline" of fractures but is not an exhaustive resource. I doubt that I would turn to this book for information on fractures because I would probably take advantage of a more complete treatise. Despite this, the book could be a helpful library volume that someone might use as a "quick" reference. I don't believe that it would be necessary for an individual to purchase this text for their own library.

Steve Hoffman, PT, ATC, SCS
North Hills Orthopedic and Sports
Physical Therapy
Pittsburgh, Pa

Mr Hoffman is the owner of North Hills Orthopedic and Sports Physical Therapy, an outpatient orthopedic clinic. His primary area of clinical research is shoulder rehabilitation. He has been the rehabilitation consultant to the Pittsburgh Pirates baseball club since 1981 and is also the current chair of the Sports Physical Therapy Specialization Council.