Book Review
Primary Care Orthopaedics
N Engl J Med 1996; 335:292July 25, 1996
- Article
Primary Care Orthopaedics
Edited by Victoria R. Masear. 367 pp., illustrated. Philadelphia, W.B. Saunders, 1996. $55. ISBN: 0-7216-5436-3The goal of Primary Care Orthopaedics is to familiarize medical students and primary care practitioners with the most common orthopedic conditions and injuries. Primary care providers are broadly interpreted to be pediatricians, family practitioners, emergency room physicians, internists, medical students, and residents treating orthopedic conditions.
The book begins with an excellent chapter on orthopedic examination. Chapter 2 addresses orthopedic emergencies and infections. Subsequent chapters address fractures and injuries to various anatomical regions, nerve entrapments, musculoskeletal tumors, overuse syndromes, congenital deformities, arthritis, and splinting techniques.
Multiauthored books are often uneven in style and content unless tightly edited. This book is no exception. For example, spine pain, among the most common and difficult musculoskeletal problems seen by primary care providers, is afforded 3 pages of discussion and 6 references, whereas knee injuries in sports are allotted 14 pages and 51 references.
The book will fill the needs of medical students and residents who desire a single descriptive textbook of orthopedic disorders. Primary care providers who may wish to treat many of the conditions described will need more specific guidelines than are provided and will require additional resources.
Robert L. Waters, M.D.
University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033
