Clinical anatomy and management of cervical spine pain

Another multi-author book on spinal problems. This one is by a multi-disciplinary team of Australian, American and English authors. It covers the anatomy, pathology and biomechanics of the upper spine. This is followed by a section of diagnosis. The main part is dedicated to treatment of upper spinal problems. Medical management, surgical approaches, chiropractic, osteopathy, physiotherapy are all given one full chapter. The final topic is entitled Contraindications to cervical spine manipulation. It details the risks and mechanisms of injuries caused by manipulative therapies.

The book is a good introductory text. Its strength is the treatment section which is sufficiently detailed to provide a valuable introduction. Having said that, I should mention that this part of the text entails a lot of overlap and, more importantly, is biased towards the positive evidence while omitting negative findings almost completely. In my view the best section of the book is the section on safety. There, one is relieved to finally see the author struggling for objectivity. It is also the best referenced chapter. The question is whether one excellent chapter is enough justification for buying the whole book.