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Hand secrets—second edition
ARTICLE IN PRESS Current Orthopaedics (2004) 18, 168
www.elsevier.com/locate/cuor
BOOK REVIEW Hand secretsFsecond edition Peter J.L. Jebson and Morton L. Kasdan; Hanley and Belfus, Inc., Philadelphia, 2002, 352pp, ISBN 1-56053-464-8
This book, of 327 pages, is divided into 45 chapters covering the entire spectrum of hand surgery in a question and answer format. There are approximately 1682 questions and the answer follows each question, sometimes with a small explanation and discussion. At the end of each section there is a bibliography, but these are not cross-indexed with the text. There are some X-ray and line drawing illustrations. The preface states that the book is an overview of the subject for medical students and house staff at all levels of training. It is indeed an easy book to pick up and test oneself over any one section at a time, but obviously is not the book to be read all at once. Each subject is covered well and to a high level but I would regard this as being too high a level for medical students and more appropriate for surgeons in training, especially those about to take their end of training examination in orthopaedic surgery or plastic surgery. It would also be a very useful refresher for those taking a specific hand
doi:10.1016/j.cuor.2003.10.009
surgery examination. Examiners for those examinations would, of course, also find it very useful. It is inevitable that in a book such as this there will be considerable cross-over in various chapters, as each chapter is written by a different author. However, it is important from the editorial point of view that there is consistency in the answers. In one chapter the maximum acceptable angulation for a fracture of the fifth metacarpal was given as both 401 in one question and 501 in another. The answers to some questions can be quite controversial and I believe that it would help a candidate if a specific reference were given for areas where there is obvious controversy. It would be preferable if such a reference was to a review article on the subject. An example of this would be the incidence of radiological versus clinical osteoarthritis after distal radial fractures. This book is very suitable for surgeons in training, both at basic and specialist levels but also for trainees in Accident and Emergency departments and for qualified orthopaedic, plastic or hand surgeons who feel they would like a refresher in specific subjects, especially if they are going on to be an examiner. Ian Leslie
www.elsevier.com/locate/cuor
BOOK REVIEW Hand secretsFsecond edition Peter J.L. Jebson and Morton L. Kasdan; Hanley and Belfus, Inc., Philadelphia, 2002, 352pp, ISBN 1-56053-464-8
This book, of 327 pages, is divided into 45 chapters covering the entire spectrum of hand surgery in a question and answer format. There are approximately 1682 questions and the answer follows each question, sometimes with a small explanation and discussion. At the end of each section there is a bibliography, but these are not cross-indexed with the text. There are some X-ray and line drawing illustrations. The preface states that the book is an overview of the subject for medical students and house staff at all levels of training. It is indeed an easy book to pick up and test oneself over any one section at a time, but obviously is not the book to be read all at once. Each subject is covered well and to a high level but I would regard this as being too high a level for medical students and more appropriate for surgeons in training, especially those about to take their end of training examination in orthopaedic surgery or plastic surgery. It would also be a very useful refresher for those taking a specific hand
doi:10.1016/j.cuor.2003.10.009
surgery examination. Examiners for those examinations would, of course, also find it very useful. It is inevitable that in a book such as this there will be considerable cross-over in various chapters, as each chapter is written by a different author. However, it is important from the editorial point of view that there is consistency in the answers. In one chapter the maximum acceptable angulation for a fracture of the fifth metacarpal was given as both 401 in one question and 501 in another. The answers to some questions can be quite controversial and I believe that it would help a candidate if a specific reference were given for areas where there is obvious controversy. It would be preferable if such a reference was to a review article on the subject. An example of this would be the incidence of radiological versus clinical osteoarthritis after distal radial fractures. This book is very suitable for surgeons in training, both at basic and specialist levels but also for trainees in Accident and Emergency departments and for qualified orthopaedic, plastic or hand surgeons who feel they would like a refresher in specific subjects, especially if they are going on to be an examiner. Ian Leslie