REVIEWS OF CLINICAL SPORTS MEDICINE

The New Zealand Journal of Sports Medicine
Reviewed by Chris Milne

The world's best clinical sports medicine text just got better. For readers familiar with the first edition, the features that made it so good are still there. For example, most anatomical locations have an ordering of the expected pathology into common, less common and "not to be missed". This is particularly valuable for less experienced clinicians as it provides a perspective on each injury site. This new edition is approximately 50% larger (about 900 pages rather than the 600 pages of the first edition). What has gone into that extra space? Firstly, there are several completely new chapters, for example, the patient with longstanding symptoms which I regard as one of the best. We all see patients who have seen multiple clinicians and accumulated a thick file. This chapter gives valuable advice for such cases. There is a new chapter on joint-related symptoms without acute injury, which gives a good perspective on rheumatological conditions presenting in the athlete.

Secondly, the existing chapters have been modified to accommodate recent advances in research and treatment. Karim Khan's role as an active researcher is very much evident here, as with a few other key individuals he has revolutionised our knowledge of tendon pathology in recent years.

Thirdly, collaboration with well recognized experts such as Jack Taunton, Tim Noakes, Pekka Kannus and Ben Kibler is a significant advance. This increases the "world view" of the book.

The text is generally well organised and succinctly written. Illustrations and photographs are used liberally and they make it easy for the clinician to incorporate some of the newer clinical examination tests into routing practice. If I have one quibble, it is that the photographs appear to lack a little clarity compared with my well-thumbed first edition.

All in all, this is a superb text. It should serve as the first point of reference for the clinician who wants more background on more sports medicine matters. A credit to its creators.