Peripheral Nerve Injuries in the Athlete

A thorough understanding of peripheral nerve injuries (PNIs) is necessary for clinicians who manage the medical care of athletes and decide when an athlete may return to competition. This comprehensive, detailed text will help you identify PNIs in their earliest stages and prevent the complications that can develop when these injuries are not diagnosed and treated correctly.

Peripheral Nerve Injuries in the Athlete, featuring contributions from leading sports medicine physicians, is aimed at teaching you the necessary skills for early recognition of neurological deficit as a result of sport injury. You'll gain an understanding of basic neuroanatomy and neurophysiology of neurologic injury and recovery; which PNIs are associated with what sport; and available diagnostic procedures, their limitations, and when they should be ordered.

Peripheral Nerve Injuries in the Athlete is designed to show you how to accurately diagnose PNIs and how to understand the difference between movements inherent in sport activities and movements resulting from injury. Part I of the book includes six chapters devoted to the anatomy, etiology, and diagnosis of PNIs that can affect athletes (including “industrial athletes”); and part II focuses on the prevention and rehabilitation of PNIs.

The text also provides information on

-physiology of nerve injury;

-regeneration and recovery;

-the role of electrodiagnostics in diagnosis and treatment; and

-the role of bracing, orthotics, and the biomechanical modifications in preventing injury and reinjury.
Helpful case reports are included in part I to illustrate how you can apply what you'll learn to real-life situations. In addition, tables listing innervations of peripheral muscles and joints act as ready references in discerning which muscles and nerves should be addressed during rehabilitation.

Peripheral Nerve Injuries in the Athlete is a comprehensive resource that will provide you with the necessary foundation for detection, diagnosis, management, and treatment of PNIs.

Joseph H. Feinberg, MD, MS, graduated from Albany Medical College in 1983. He completed his residency training in physical medicine and rehabilitation at the Rusk Institute at NYU in 1990 and has completed fellowships in orthopedic pathology at the Hospital for Special Surgery and in biomechanics at the University of Iowa. He was the director of sports medicine at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation from 1993 to 1998 and is currently the director of electrodiagnostics in the department of physiatry at the Hospital for Special Surgery, where he is also the fellowship director. He has been the team physician for Seton Hall University, Jersey City State College, and the Jersey Dragons soccer team; and he is currently the team physician for St. Peter's College. He was recognized by New York magazine as one of New York City's best doctors in 2001 and 2002.

Dr. Feinberg's research efforts include the study of nerve regeneration, muscle fatigue, and muscle kinesiology. He has authored multiple publications on peripheral nerve injuries, nerve regeneration, burner syndrome, muscle kinesiology, and muscle fatigue. He has given presentations on these topics at the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM); the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation; the Physiatric Association of Spine, Sports, and Occupational Rehabilitation (PASSOR); and the Orthopedic Research Society. He is a fellow of the ACSM, a fellow of the American Academy of Electrodiagnostic Medicine (AAEM), and a member of the AAEM training exam committee.

Dr. Feinberg is director of AFICIA (Aid for Children in Africa with Disabilities), an organization that provides medical volunteer care to disabled children in Africa. He has been a triathlete since 1990 and currently lives in Montville, New Jersey.

Neil I. Spielholz, PT, PhD, FAPTA, was trained at Columbia University in New York in 1955 and licensed in New York and Florida as a physical therapist. He also earned a PhD from the department of physiology and biophysics at New York University School of Medicine in New York City. He then spent almost 30 years on the faculty of the department of rehabilitation medicine at New York University Medical Center in the electrodiagnostic laboratory. After retiring from NYU, he continued teaching and doing research at the University of Miami School of Medicine's department of orthopaedics and rehabilitation, division of physical therapy, for the next 10 years. In 2001 he retired from the University of Miami as research professor, and was made professor emeritus. Today, his retirement remains only partial, as he continues to lecture and write.

Dr. Spielholz has coauthored two books on clinical neurophysiology and has written 15 book chapters and 40 papers on the topics of electromyography, nerve conduction studies, intraoperative use of somatosensory-evoked potentials, electrotherapy, and the basic neurophysiology related to all of the preceding. He serves as an editorial board member and as a peer reviewer for various journals.