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 of 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