PocketRadiologist:
ER-Trauma: Top 100 Diagnoses by Robert A. Novelline, James T. Rhea, Thomas Ptak, Farank Sadri-Tafazoli, Andrew B. Small
ElsevierScience, St. Louis, 2004, $59.95
ER-Trauma: Top 100 Diagnoses follows the same successful format of its predecessors in the PocketRadiologist series. Being quite familiar with several of the other titles in this series, ER-Trauma is one of the best.
The table of contents and index are well organized making specific diagnoses easy to locate. The book is divided into the following sections: head injury, face injury, cervical spine/neck injury, thoracic injury, thoracolumbar spine injury, pelvic fractures, and upper and lower extremity injuries.
Every diagnosis gives a detailed summary of the key facts, imaging findings, differential diagnoses, pathology, clinical issues, and selected references. The majority of the images are CT and plain-film, which are of good quality despite the relatively small size of the book. There are also some computer-generated images scattered throughout that were helpful. Arrows or asterisks are used to highlight abnormalities, leaving no ambiguity to the findings.
ER-Trauma takes a smart approach by describing each diagnosis according to anatomical location. For example, the upper extremity section starts from the shoulder and concludes with the hand.
However, one minor caution with this book is that the text is presented in outline form which is a plus or minus depending on your preferences as a reader.
ER-Trauma: Top 100 Diagnoses is best suited for junior radiology residents who are getting their first call experiences, but emergency medicine clinicians and surgeons also will find it useful. The compact format lends itself well to the fast-paced environment of trauma medicine.
By Dr. E. John MadarangAuntMinnie.com contributing writer
January 27, 2005
Dr. Madarang is a fourth year resident at Aurora Healthcare/St. Luke's Medical Center in Milwaukee. He will start a neuroradiology fellowship at the University of California Davis Medical Center in Sacramento in July 2005.
The opinions expressed in this review are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the views of AuntMinnie.com.
Copyright © 2005 AuntMinnie.com
