Joseph A. Buckwalter, Thomas A. Einhorn, and Sheldon
R. Simon, editors. Rosemont, Illinois: American Academy of Orthopaedic
Surgeons; 2000. Hardcover: $150.00 (members) or $195.00 (nonmembers).
Softcover: $120.00 (members) or $160.00 (nonmembers).
873 pp.
An understanding of the biological and biomechanical mechanisms
of the human body is seminal to our ability to practice our profession.
It also allows us to recognize developmental, traumatic, disease, and
degenerative problems and to formulate appropriate clinical care
for our patients. Finally, it helps us to develop better methods
of treatment and to avoid inappropriate therapy that is not based
on sound biological or biomechanical principles.
The second edition of this book is indeed an unusual compilation
of knowledge. The advances in the understanding of the musculoskeletal
system since the publication of the first edition have been massive.
Appropriately, the current edition is extensive but concise and
refers the reader to more detailed material. This is in keeping
with the purpose of this book.
The editors and multiple distinguished contributors have provided
a convenient, well-organized, thorough book. (The text is also available
on CD.) The student or practicing physician is given essential information
(in addition to the authors’ cumulative experience) needed
to individualize care for diverse clinical problems, to validate
solutions, and to continue to progress in the understanding of musculoskeletal
therapy and research. The scope ranges from embryology and genetics,
to injury and trauma, to wear and tear, to apoptosis.
This book should be required reading for active (and even inactive)
orthopaedists who want to remain cognitively current. However, the
book will not remain current for long; because of the explosion
of knowledge in this field, a third edition (hopefully, of the same
high quality as this one) will soon be needed. The only other areas
that I would suggest for inclusion in the next edition are the pathophysiology
of muscle ischemia and the pathophysiology and biomechanics
of scar formation, maturation, and contracture.
Thomas E. Whitesides Jr., MDEmory University School of Medicine
Atlanta, Georgia