REIDER PART 107

Humań anatomy only changes at the glacial ratc of evo-lution, but our knowledge of it continues to advance rap-idly. The same can be said for the orthopaedic physical examination: Although the spectrum of human injury and disease changes little over time, our understanding of it continues to improve, and with it, the tests that we devise to detect pathologic conditions. Hence, the second edition of The Orthopaedic Physical Examination.

The first goal of this edition is to incorporate new exam techniques that have been introduced sińce the first edition was composed. Newer imaging modaJities such as magnctic rcsonance and arthroscopy have allowed us to discern abnormalities that previously went undetected. Novel exam techniques have been introduced to diagnose these conditions, and they have been incorporated into the tcxt. In other cascs, clinical studies have been done to delineate the accuracy of new or established tests. This knowledge has been added to the text in order to put the reliability of the tests into perspcctivc.

The second edition does a lot morę than just update the existing text, however. A number of new features have been introduced to augment the utility of the book to our readers. Photographs of real people are essential to a book such as this one, because we are routinely faced with the challenge of examining real people in our clinical prac-tices. Neverthele$s, linę drawings can serve a useful didac-tic purpose by simplifying and explaining the complex images contained in photographs. Over fifty linę drawings now serve to amplify the photographs of the first edition. One popular feature of The Orthopaedic Physical Examination has been the photographs of abnormal physical findings. Morę of these, collected by the authors sińce the first edition, have been added to this edition.

I have always taught that the first and most impor-tant part of any physical examination is taking a good patient history. Several new features are designed to teach important points of the clinical history for each body area and to help the reader relatc the history to the physical cxam. Text boxes outline the course to take “When the patient complains of... ” different physical symptoms. A table at the end of each chapter lists the key “take home points” for each section. The tables that summarize the physical findings for different injuries and conditions have been retained and expanded.

The Orthopaedic Physical Examination continues to have as its goal serving as the definitive text of orthopaedic cxam techniques for clinicians of all back-grounds, from the experienced specialist who wishes to compare the various tests that have been described for diagnosing tears of the glenoid labrum to the beginning generalist who would like to learn to detect an effusion in the knee. Our new features are designed to be useful to all our readers, and are offered in gratitude for your warm response to the first edition.

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