Customer Reviews

Orthopedic Manual Therapy: An Evidence-Based Approach

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Dr. Cook's textbook provides not only an excellent learning tool for manual therapy techniques but goes one step further than most texts by providing the current evidence behind these techniques. Most importantly, this text has large sections dedicated towards assessment for each region of the body along with the associated special tests and evidence supporting these tests. This provides an important part of what most texts on the subject miss: when and why to select these manual therapy techniques for treatment.
I found his section on medical screening to be very helpful especially for clinicians who work in a direct access environment. I also found his brief review of anatomy and biomechanics of each orthopedic region very helpful. Most importantly this text is exceedingly well written and very easy to understand.

As a specialist in orthopaedic physical therapy, i found this book extremely refreshing. Finally, a text that offers a non-dogmatic review of manual therapy and evidenced based physical therapy. I greatly enjoyed having the a specificity and sensitivity of most ortho special tests collected in one book. Moreover, i found the manual therapy techniques easy to understand and apply in clinic. I highly recommend this book to all who aspire to succeed in the ortho physical therapy arena!

Marrow Burnette, PT, MSPT, OCS, COMT

I am a recent physical therapy doctoral graduate and a post-doctoral orthopedic manual resident in West Los Angels, California. Dr. Cook's book is an invaluable and indispensable evidenced-based resource for examination, treatment and reassessment. This publication is on the cutting edge of medical research and practice. It provides a revolutionary break through in the methodology and advancement of orthopedic manual therapy. The author calls for a non-dogmatic research validated approach for the standardization of orthopedic physical therapy examination and evaluation methods. Many of my own personal questions and concerns that have challenged the efficaciousness of our current practice techniques were answered by Dr. Cook's comprehensive review of the literature on orthopedic practice. Bottom line... you can throw your McGee and Dutton textbooks in the trash; along with the other tenuous myths and theories of merit that have discredited and stigmatized the therapy profession for years.

It was such a pleasant relief to review Dr. Cook's book that lists all the tests that we as physical therapists commonly use in the clinic, with the necessary evidence to support these tests. I am frequently questioned with regards to the efficacy of manual therapy by some of my referring physicians. Dr. Cook has summarized much of what we do and has based it all on the current literature to support the validity of these treatments and techniques. I have therefore suggested this book to many physical therapists and physicians, as I have found it to be an integral addition to the literature in our clinic. I have had nothing but positive feedback from all of those colleagues to whom I have recommended this book. Thank you Dr. Cook!

I found this book to be an excellent review of the current literature surrounding the application and efficacy of manual therapy. I particularly found the diagnostic values for specific testing valuable. However, a few of the technique discriptions were difficult to understand. Overall, I think this book does a nice job of bringing together concepts from the most popular methods of manual therapy and presenting them in a way that is useful in a clinical setting.

This text book should find a place in all othopedic physical therapist's libraries. Dr Cook has compiled an great resource for manual therapists, with clear photos and descriptions of techniques, and more importantly the evidence to support their use. He has gone beyond the classic orthopedic text books that simply describes the test or technique with no support of the efficacy of its use. Dr Cook has dedicated each chapter to a particular body part prefaced by several chapters on examination, clinical reasoning and medical screening. A DVD of these techniques described could make future editions of this text even better.

Unlike many of the orthopedic physical therapy textbooks out there, this book is both comprehensive and practical. Dr. Cook's textbook focuses on the clinical application of manual physical therapy. It provides a context within which a patient may be both evaluated and treated. Each chapter is heavily referenced and there are detailed descriptions and illustrations of numerous evaluation and treatment techniques. I work with physical therapy students in my clinic during their clinical internships and find this textbook to be indispensable in helping them bridge the gap from the academic setting to the real world of clinical practice.

There are many books that may appear to be similar to this work that are nothing more than a catalogue of clinical tests. What distinguishes Dr Cook's work is his diligent reporting of the diagnostic accuracy of the orthopedic tests (including likelihood ratios) enabling clinicians to make meaningful decisions in patient care based on results garnered. Dr Cook's book also includes in each chapter appropriate manual therapy for each part of the body with each chapter being extensively referenced mainly from the peer-reviewed literature. Overall, I highly recommend this book to both experienced and novice clinicians. With the shift to evidence-based treatment, experienced clinicians will benefit from having a reference for diagnostic accuracy of tests while novices to manual therapy will benefit from this as well as the straight-forward manual techniques described in each chapter.

With the advent of evidence-based practice, this book is a very practical guide for clinicians. It integrates up to date research with the different orthopedic manual techniques mentioned. It is not afraid to cite if some manual techniques lack or have weak research supporting its effectivity. The pictures demonstrating the therapist performing the techniques are clear with specific instructions written beside it. It is actually one manual therapy book I enjoyed reading cover to cover. The only thing though is the diagram/sketch of the skeletal anatomy can stand some improvement. Also, some typographical errors need to be corrected. Both of these are quite understandable being the book is a first edition.

This book is a great resource for both the novice and experienced orthopedic manual therapist. The most updated evidence is provided in a nice summary that is reader-friendly. The pictures are large and detailed with step-by-step instructions of "how to" perform various procedures and techniques. Both the spine and peripheral joints are covered. What a comprehensive manual!!