Sports Injuries. International Perspectives in Physical Therapy, v.4.

International Perspectives in Physical Therapy is a series designed to provide an international exchange of ideas and approaches. Each text in the series focuses on a single topic with universal appeal and is targeted for experienced physical therapy clinicians. This fourth volume focuses on sports injuries.

The title of the book is really a misnomer; the book is essentially divided into two parts, neither of which is about sports injuries. The first part is a less-than-comprehensive compilation of six chapters that describe the current state of sports physical therapy in Canada, Australia, India, the United States, Finland, and Britain. The second part consists of three chapters on measurement of muscle function, cryotherapy, and ultrasound. A bibliography and an index also are included in the text. The illustrations included are clear, but they add little to the book's context.

This text is not sure what it wants to be, which may account for the misleading title. The chapters on sports physical therapy in different countries have little continuity, and the individual chapters are disjointed. Some describe the evolution and current state of sports physical therapy in a particular country, then seem to present individual case studies of examples of specific sports injury management, as though these chapters were an afterthought or an effort to simply fill up space. The best chapter in this first part of the book is the one by Wallace, on sports physical therapy in the United States. This chapter clearly describes the evolution of the sports physical therapy specialty in the United States, the 18 designated competencies specific to sports physical therapy, and the future of sports physical therapy in the United States.

I do not know why the text's last three chapters--on muscle testing, cryotherapy, and ultrasound--were included; they do not present an international view. These well-presented, complete, and readable chapters may be the most useful to physical therapy practitioners.

I cannot recommend this text to physical therapy practitioners, beyond those who would like an overview of the state of sports physical therapy in several different countries.