Physical Examination of the Spine and Extremities by Stanley Hoppenfeld

There are very few medical books in existence about which one can be tempted to declare, “I doubt whether in my lifetime there will ever be another book about this topic that is as good as this one.” In fact, I know only one medical book about which a statements like this might be said with a fair amount of confidence – and that is Physical Examination of the Spine and Extremities.

The book, one of the best medical books of all time, was first published in 1976. A new copy still sells fairly well for eighty or ninety U.S. dollars, while a used copy can be purchase for approximately fifty U.S. dollars, all while most medical books become nearly useless and lose more than eighty percent of their value within six or seven years of publication. This point alone is sufficient proof of the book’s extraordinary place in the world of musculoskeletal medicine.

One needs to look at only few sample pages to understand why. The diagrams are sharp and accurate: they delineate the surface anatomy together with the underlying bony and ligamentous structures. That way one can appreciate what the surface anatomy looks like and predict what the underlying structures might feel like. In addition, there are occasional cartoon-style bubbles with symbols for various “clicking” noises and apprehensive reactions that the diagnostic maneuvers might elicit. All of this gives the reader a 3-6 dimensional appreciation of the musculoskeletal examination, projected onto a two-dimensional rendition on the pages of the book.

The book’s greatest flaw is its date of publication – 1976. I am by no mean an expert on musculoskeletal medicine, but I believe that there are newer diagnostic maneuvers nowadays, and people are older and fleshier. Many of the maneuvers in this book are still practiced today but some aren’t. As such, I think the world would benefit from a newer edition of this book.

It’s hard to imagine that in a world of seven billion people there doesn’t exist someone who can draw anatomically correct and clinically relevant drawings like Dr. Hoppenfeld. If you can, or if you think you might know someone who can, please let someone in medical publishing know.