Care of spinal conditions has become increasingly complex and confusing. Classification systems can help in understanding the subject matter at hand, but have exploded in numbers and complexity. Attempts at extracting classifications of spinal disorders are cumbersome and require careful study of numerous reference books without achieving a comprehensive overview in the end. This one of a kind reference text summarizes over 185 spine classification or severity easures with standardized art work, provides ratings and critical evaluations of pertinent strengths and weaknesses in a concise and systematic fashion and provides help in:

Studying spinal disease conditions
Preparing informed treatment decisions
Communicating individual patient disease severity
Evaluating publications regarding treatment results and success
Formulating spinal research projects
Providing a scientific reference tool

The book is divided into two major systems

Disease severity:

General disease severity
Instability
Osteoporosis
Stenosis
Spinal deformity
Degenerative disorders
Infection
Tumor
Heterotopic ossification

Trauma severity:

General trauma scores
Spinal cord injury
Fracture classifications

All identified measures within each category are formally reviewed and displayed in a unique visually friendly manner containing:

A one of a kind compendium of high quality diagrams for each severity measure or classification system with unrivaled specificity and detail
The content of each measure and whether it incorporates the critically important ABCDs of disease severity including: an anatomical component, a biomechanical component, a clinical component, and the degree of severity component
A summary of the measures validity, reliability, and predictive ability with corresponding patient populations
An evaluation of each measure using our scoring criteria focusing on methodological rigor and clinical utility
An overall score for each measure rating the instrument's strength with respect to methodology and clinical utility

Jens Chapman