Baaj AA, Mummaneni PV, Uribe JS, et al.  Handbook of Spine Surgery.  Thieme 2011, 512 pages, 169 illustrations, $89.95.

For those neuroradiologists who deal with both orthopedic surgeons and neurosurgeons where a large volume of spine surgery is performed, a baseline understanding of the various surgical procedures is essential. In this compact 512-page softcover book, Drs. Baaj, Mummaneni, Uribe, Vaccaro, and Greenberg (along with 80 contributors) have put togather an instructive, highly readable description comprised of surgical techniques in 40 common and relatively common procedures. This section, which compares nearly half the book, is supplemented by sections on spinal anatomy, an overview of clinical spine surgery, and spinal pathology.

There is a significant amount of important information in every chapter, offering bullet points of details relevant to the imaging of spine patients. A relative uniform setup of the surgical chapters includes key points, indications for the procedure, surgical techniques, complications, outcomes, and surgical “pearls.”

This small but important book should be available to all neuroradiologists who deal with a significant volume of spine surgery. A departmental library purchase or a personal copy is recommended.