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Microsurgical procedures Hand and upper limb series, vol. 8
378
Book Reviews THE MANAGEMENT OF LIMB INEQUALILTY Edited by Malcolm B. Menelaus. 256page.s. ChurchillLivingstone, Edinburgh, 1991. ISBN O-443-04298-5. Price f5.5.00
This book has chapters from surgeons in Australia, Canada and the U.S.A. who are active in the field of limb lengthening, with a strong contribution from the staff of the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, where records of patients with limb length discrepancy are available from the 1920s onwards. This experience is reflected in the book which provides a relatively brief but thorough overview of the topic of leg length discrepancy. The book starts with a thoughtful chapter by the editor describing his approach to the management of patients. That is followed by chapters on the biology of bone growth, clinical examination and the types of limb inequality seen in specific disorders, before the techniques of lengthening and shortening are described. Throughout the book the emphasis is on choosing techniques that are rational and reliable, rather than enthusiastic use of the most recent device on the market. Orthotic and prosthetic methods are adequately covered. There is only one short chapter on length discrepancy in the upper limb, although it is a good one. The point is made that information about indications, techniques and outcomes in the upper limb is sparse in comparison to the lower. This is not therefore a book for the surgeon whose primary interest is in the hand and upper limb but it will be read with great interest by orthopaedic surgeons and can definitely be recommended to those involved in the management of limb length discrepancy. Geoffrey Hooper
THE TRAUMATIZED HAND AND WRIST Louis A. Gilula. 335pages. Saunders, 1992. ISBN O-7216-12172. Price f44.00.
Of the seven contributors to this book, five are radiologists. Their aim is to correlate the radiographic features of hand and wrist injuries with the associated soft tissue abnormalities and the mechanisms of injury. The book is copiously illustrated with radiographs and accompanying diagrams that show the ligamentous and muscular attachments to the damaged bones. In addition there is much useful information about radionuclide and magnetic resonance imaging and how to position the hand for X-ray examination. Most chapters have an extensive list of original references for those who require further information. This is not a comprehensive review of hand and wrist trauma because only bone, joint and ligamentous injuries are considered. The mechanisms and classifications of these injuries are however covered in detail although, as might be expected, there is little or nothing about their treatments. Despite this, the trainee in hand surgery will find this book provides a useful review of bone and joint injuries, common and uncommon. It will also encourage the habit of regarding the abnormalilty shown on the radiograph as only a partial representation of the total injury. Geoffrey Hooper
THE JOURNAL OF HAND SURGERY VOL. 17B No. 3 JUNE 1992
MICROSURGICAL PROCEDURES Hand and Upper Limb series, Vol. 8 Edited by Viktor E. Meyer and Michael J. M. Black. Churchill Livingstone, 1991. ISBN 0 443 03463 X. Price X60.00.
Here is volume 8 of this visionary series from the publishing house that has made such strides in the publishing of hand surgery and microsurgery texts. This volume has something for everyone, whether trainee or expert and will be correspondingly well received. The subject matter is wide and well thought out, beginning with a potted history and a description of laboratory based practice. The ten subsequent chapters then take us through minor and major replantation, the range of foot-to-hand procedures, skin cover, free muscle transplantation and vascularised bone and joint transplantation. For each chapter the senior author is one of the leading names in that field, and the editors have directed this stable of thoroughbreds to good effect. Next come contributions on the vascularized nerve graft, the technique of peripheral nerve repair, and an unusual and stimulating article on direct muscular neurotization. These are welcome additions that do not conflict with the earlier volume The Paralysed Hand.
In the chapter that follows, the use of microsurgery in the treatment of congenital deformities of the hand is illustrated with a dozen cases from the author’s experience which have clearly helped to form his present view of this surgery. Such anecdotal teaching by example is sadly rare today, but has particular value in this unusual surgery. Experts in the field may not agree with all that is written in this chapter, but the author’s repeated caveats about such surgery will at least strike a chord and warn the unwary. Finally we have a rather “sci-fi” view of the future of the techniques of microsurgery in the upper limb. Some of this may be ludicrously speculative, but the writing is on the wall with regard to transplantation, and a copy of this book, so eloquently showing what microsurgery can do for the upper limb, would be a thought-provoking gift from any hand surgeon to her local professor of transplantation biology and possible future collaborator. Simon Kay
Notices Forthcoming meetings of the Belgian Hand Group
The Spring Meeting will be held in Lille, France on 13 June 1992. The topic will be “Techniques of soft tissue cover in hand surgery.” A meeting will be held on 28 November 1992 in Liege, Belgium. The topic will be “Unsatisfactory results in hand surgery.” Free papers are invited for both meetings. For further information please contact: Dr F. Schuind, Cliniques Universitaires de Bruxelles, Hospital Erasme, 808 route de Lennik, 1070 Brussels, Belgium. Fax 32 2 520 35 56.
Book Reviews THE MANAGEMENT OF LIMB INEQUALILTY Edited by Malcolm B. Menelaus. 256page.s. ChurchillLivingstone, Edinburgh, 1991. ISBN O-443-04298-5. Price f5.5.00
This book has chapters from surgeons in Australia, Canada and the U.S.A. who are active in the field of limb lengthening, with a strong contribution from the staff of the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, where records of patients with limb length discrepancy are available from the 1920s onwards. This experience is reflected in the book which provides a relatively brief but thorough overview of the topic of leg length discrepancy. The book starts with a thoughtful chapter by the editor describing his approach to the management of patients. That is followed by chapters on the biology of bone growth, clinical examination and the types of limb inequality seen in specific disorders, before the techniques of lengthening and shortening are described. Throughout the book the emphasis is on choosing techniques that are rational and reliable, rather than enthusiastic use of the most recent device on the market. Orthotic and prosthetic methods are adequately covered. There is only one short chapter on length discrepancy in the upper limb, although it is a good one. The point is made that information about indications, techniques and outcomes in the upper limb is sparse in comparison to the lower. This is not therefore a book for the surgeon whose primary interest is in the hand and upper limb but it will be read with great interest by orthopaedic surgeons and can definitely be recommended to those involved in the management of limb length discrepancy. Geoffrey Hooper
THE TRAUMATIZED HAND AND WRIST Louis A. Gilula. 335pages. Saunders, 1992. ISBN O-7216-12172. Price f44.00.
Of the seven contributors to this book, five are radiologists. Their aim is to correlate the radiographic features of hand and wrist injuries with the associated soft tissue abnormalities and the mechanisms of injury. The book is copiously illustrated with radiographs and accompanying diagrams that show the ligamentous and muscular attachments to the damaged bones. In addition there is much useful information about radionuclide and magnetic resonance imaging and how to position the hand for X-ray examination. Most chapters have an extensive list of original references for those who require further information. This is not a comprehensive review of hand and wrist trauma because only bone, joint and ligamentous injuries are considered. The mechanisms and classifications of these injuries are however covered in detail although, as might be expected, there is little or nothing about their treatments. Despite this, the trainee in hand surgery will find this book provides a useful review of bone and joint injuries, common and uncommon. It will also encourage the habit of regarding the abnormalilty shown on the radiograph as only a partial representation of the total injury. Geoffrey Hooper
THE JOURNAL OF HAND SURGERY VOL. 17B No. 3 JUNE 1992
MICROSURGICAL PROCEDURES Hand and Upper Limb series, Vol. 8 Edited by Viktor E. Meyer and Michael J. M. Black. Churchill Livingstone, 1991. ISBN 0 443 03463 X. Price X60.00.
Here is volume 8 of this visionary series from the publishing house that has made such strides in the publishing of hand surgery and microsurgery texts. This volume has something for everyone, whether trainee or expert and will be correspondingly well received. The subject matter is wide and well thought out, beginning with a potted history and a description of laboratory based practice. The ten subsequent chapters then take us through minor and major replantation, the range of foot-to-hand procedures, skin cover, free muscle transplantation and vascularised bone and joint transplantation. For each chapter the senior author is one of the leading names in that field, and the editors have directed this stable of thoroughbreds to good effect. Next come contributions on the vascularized nerve graft, the technique of peripheral nerve repair, and an unusual and stimulating article on direct muscular neurotization. These are welcome additions that do not conflict with the earlier volume The Paralysed Hand.
In the chapter that follows, the use of microsurgery in the treatment of congenital deformities of the hand is illustrated with a dozen cases from the author’s experience which have clearly helped to form his present view of this surgery. Such anecdotal teaching by example is sadly rare today, but has particular value in this unusual surgery. Experts in the field may not agree with all that is written in this chapter, but the author’s repeated caveats about such surgery will at least strike a chord and warn the unwary. Finally we have a rather “sci-fi” view of the future of the techniques of microsurgery in the upper limb. Some of this may be ludicrously speculative, but the writing is on the wall with regard to transplantation, and a copy of this book, so eloquently showing what microsurgery can do for the upper limb, would be a thought-provoking gift from any hand surgeon to her local professor of transplantation biology and possible future collaborator. Simon Kay
Notices Forthcoming meetings of the Belgian Hand Group
The Spring Meeting will be held in Lille, France on 13 June 1992. The topic will be “Techniques of soft tissue cover in hand surgery.” A meeting will be held on 28 November 1992 in Liege, Belgium. The topic will be “Unsatisfactory results in hand surgery.” Free papers are invited for both meetings. For further information please contact: Dr F. Schuind, Cliniques Universitaires de Bruxelles, Hospital Erasme, 808 route de Lennik, 1070 Brussels, Belgium. Fax 32 2 520 35 56.