Musculoskeletal Trauma Simplified.

This is a unique book. There are so many orthopaedic books out there, some of which are comprehensive texts covering trauma in depth. For the orthopaedic trainee and consultant, those in-depth tomes are an essential to develop a thorough knowledge, to provide reference for small-print facts and to revise principles and techniques. This book is different. It is a case-based trauma book that is easy and actually rather fun to read. A clinical case, based on a history and a radiograph is presented, followed by a series of questions. The questions are then answered with enough detail to understand the important clinical points. There are frequent summary boxes as well. The book can be read in just a few hours; the reader will then feel either re-assured that his or her trauma knowledge was not so bad after all, or will have been reminded of the most important facts and principles. Probably both. Some of the surgical techniques espoused are a little dated, for example K-wire fixation of a thumb ulnar collateral bone avulsion or ulnar styloid fragment. Small fragment screws are a better modern option. Some of the references are far too old, for example, to previous editions of Green’s Operative Hand Surgery book when there are newer editions or to papers from the 1980s and 1990s when there are better papers from the past few years. The book will be particularly refreshing for those who are studying for an examination. For those tired of ploughing through bigger books, not seeing the wood for the trees, this book approaches learning from the different but powerful perspective of self-testing and then concise explanation. The book will also appeal to those who have a broad but rusty knowledge of trauma, updating them without much effort. I am sure this book will appeal to many readers who would not resent the investment in the knowledge it provides.