Since its recent technical advances, mobile ultrasonography has become an extremely practical tool, allowing both diagnosis and treatment of various musculoskeletal disorders.

According to the authors, this book aims at being a “cookbook” for busy clinicians, including hand surgeons, orthopaedic surgeons, radiologists, and sports medicine specialists. It is divided into five sections, subsequently entitled: Introduction (dealing with basic ultrasound principles), Fingers and Wrist, Forearm and Elbow, Shoulder, and Masses.

Designed to allow clinicians to find information quickly and apply it to the intended clinical situation, the content includes bullet-point text, informative figures, and detailed clinical examples. Each chapter is presented as follows: appropriate setup, anatomic landmarks, probe and patient positioning, normal anatomy, and relevant pathologic anatomy. Available injection techniques for 14 anatomic areas and conditions are illustrated by pictures showing how to hold the probe and where to place the needle. In addition, selected chapters have video to demonstrate the techniques.

The editors are: John R Fowler Jr, Assistant Professor, Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, University of Pittsburg Medical Center, Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, USA, and Nandkumar M Rawool, Associate Professor, Department of Radiologic Sciences, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Eleven American contributors have collaborated in writing this work.

Richly illustrated and nicely written, this guidebook is also pleasantly and clearly presented. All the figures (photographs, anatomical drawings, and ultrasound images) are demonstrative and of high quality. The bullet-points text makes it really easy to use. However, it must be kept in mind that it was the choice of the authors to deliver a “high-yield” format rather than dense paragraphs of information. As a result, the book may be of lesser interest for experienced clinicians.

To sum up, this practical step-by-step guide may be greatly helpful for all physicians, seniors and residents, aiming to integrate musculoskeletal ultrasound in their clinical practice.