Book Review
Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries: Mechanisms, diagnosis, and management
N Engl J Med 1996; 335:1852December 12, 1996
- Article
Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries: Mechanisms, diagnosis, and management
By Lawrence S. Nordhoff, Jr. 373 pp. Gaithersburg, Md., Aspen, 1995. $100. ISBN: 0-8342-0727-3Motor Vehicle Collision Injuries is an ambitious book with multiple objectives aimed at multiple audiences with various levels of background knowledge. The challenge of explaining cephalgia and sciatica to nonmedical readers while stimulating the interest of trauma surgeons, orthopedic surgeons, or emergency physicians is daunting.
The author has developed a thoughtful, practical guide for physicians in private practice for ranking the severity of neck and back injuries. He describes a fairly detailed physical examination for head injuries and provides a comprehensive discussion of multiple syndromes after trauma to various parts of the body. There is also a useful review of the literature on the subject. Some figures, especially those on different trigger points for symptoms from muscle groups, are small and difficult to read.
The discussion on teaching the physician to collect pertinent information is informative, but the recommendations would be difficult to follow in a busy emergency department or trauma center. Nonetheless, readers learn about the detail and extent of paperwork necessary in the medicolegal environment. The chapters on imaging, especially of the spine, are comprehensive. Similarly, there is a useful discussion of the current studies and techniques of the neurodiagnosis of neck injuries. The chapter on disabilities after car crashes is a helpful review of a complex and poorly understood subject. The chapter on medicolegal reports will be helpful to practitioners who deal infrequently with the medicolegal system. It recommends a helpful method of reporting that will withstand medicolegal scrutiny. The comprehensive discussion of the forces involved in different types of crashes and the predicted injuries to occupants in different positions in the vehicle is very well written and easy to read.
In sum, this book spans a broad range of topics and manages to sustain the interest of the readers as well as to educate them.
Lenworth M. Jacobs, M.D., M.P.H.
Hartford Hospital, Hartford, CT 06102-5037- Citing Articles (1)
Citing Articles
1
Nortina Shahrizaila, Nobuhiro Yuki. (2011) Antiganglioside antibodies in Guillain–Barré syndrome and its related conditions. Expert Review of Neurotherapeutics 11:9, 1305-1313
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