STUDY DESIGN: Whiplash injury is a prevalent and often destructive injury of the cervical column, which can lead to serious neck pain. Many approaches have been suggested for the treatment of whiplash injury, including anti-inflammatory drugs, manipulation, supervised exercise, and cervical collars. Cervical collars are generally divided into two groups: soft and rigid collars. PURPOSE: The present study aimed to compare the effect of soft and rigid cervical collars on immobilizing head and neck motion. OVERVIEW OF LITERATURE: Many studies have investigated the effect of collars on neck motion. Rigid collars have been shown to provide more immobilization in the sagittal and transverse planes compared with soft collars. However, according to some studies, soft and rigid collars provide the same range of motion in the frontal plane. METHODS: Twenty-nine healthy subjects aged 18–26 participated in this study. Data were collected using a three-dimensional motion analysis system and six infrared cameras. Eight markers, weighing 4.4 g and thickened 2 cm² were used to record kinematic data. According to the normality of the data, a paired t-test was used for statistical analyses. The level of significance was set at α=0.01. RESULTS: All motion significantly decreased when subjects used soft collars (p<0.01). According to the obtained data, flexion and lateral rotation experienced the maximum (39%) and minimum (11%) immobilization in all six motions using soft collars. Rigid collars caused maximum immobilization in flexion (59%) and minimum immobilization in the lateral rotation (18%) and limited all motion much more than the soft collar. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that different cervical collars have different effects on neck motion. Rigid and soft cervical collars used in the present study limited the neck motion in both directions. Rigid collars contributed to significantly more immobilization in all directions.
Head* ; Healthy Volunteers* ; Immobilization* ; Neck Pain ; Neck* ; Range of Motion, Articular ; Whiplash Injuries

OBJECTIVE: The name of whiplash Injury derives from the etiopathogenic description of the sudden sharp whipping movement of the head and neck, symptoms are varied, manifesting as neck pain, occipital pain, dysesthesia, and weakness of arm, and so on. But there is no objective diagnostic tool for the evaluation of its symptoms. The purpose of the study is to visualize the symptomatic region before and after treatment and comparing the images obtained by infrared study. METHODS: From march 2006 to June 2008, 20 patients diagnosed as whiplash injuries were examined by digital infrared thermographic imaging system (DITI, DOREX, USA). The male-to-female ratio was 14:6 and their ages were ranging in age from 20 to 67 years, with mean age of 38.5 years. We evaluated thermal change (deltaT) in lesion area(neck and shoulder) and also compared thermal difference (deltaT (2wk-I)) after pre- & post- treatment. RESULTS: Initial DITI was 34.28 +/- 2.90 on anterior neck, 34.29 +/- 2.98 on posterior neck, 33.42 +/- 2.93 on right shoulder shoulder (Lt), and 33.59 +/- 2.81 on left shoulder. DITI after 2weeks treatment was 33.60 +/- 2.88 on anterior neck, 33.78 +/- 2.99 on posterior neck, 32.79 +/- 2.78 on right shoulder, and 33.05 +/- 2.74 on left shoulder. The thermal difference of lesional area on the initial treatment and after treatment (deltaT (2wk-I)) was 0.68 +/- 0.45 on anterior neck, 0.51 +/- 0.36 on posterior neck, 0.63 +/- 0.32 on right shoulder, and 0.54 +/- 0.64 on left shoulder, and these result were statistically significant (p < 0.05). Thermal difference (deltaT) was neck 0.34 and shoulder 0.33 on initial injury, and 0.39, 0.31 after 2 weeks respectively. This finding was symmetrical and below deltaT 0.5 based on pathologic body temperature. Initial VAS (Visual Analogue Scale) of Neck was 7.9 +/- 0.78 and after 2 weeks was 3.6 +/- 1.21 the initial VAS of shoulder was 7.4 +/- 0.52 and after 2 weeks was 3.2 +/- 0.97. There was statistically significant (p=0.001). CONCLUSION: Therefore DITI was perceived as a reliable tool in the objective assessment of treatment effect after sustaining whiplash injuries, in clinical practice.
Arm ; Body Temperature ; Head ; Humans ; Neck ; Neck Pain ; Paresthesia ; Shoulder ; Whiplash Injuries

Intervertebral disc herniation is rare in children and is reportedly related with disc calcification and traumatic injury. We report an 8 years old girl, who complained of tingling sensation in both arms and intentional tic like neck stretching for about 1 month. She had got unnoticed whiplash Injury 2 weeks before symptoms. She also had been taking lessons for taekwondo for one and half year. Physical examination was unremarkable. Her symptoms got aggravated over the next 4 weeks. Plain vertebral x-ray showed no abnormalities, but cervical spinal MRI revealed disc central herniations at C 5-6 and C 6-7 levels. We concluded that her paresthesia and tic like motion were related with cervical disc herniation from hyperflexion neck injury.
Arm ; Child ; Humans ; Intervertebral Disc ; Neck ; Neck Injuries ; Paresthesia ; Physical Examination ; Sensation ; Tic Disorders ; Tics ; Whiplash Injuries

A retrospective study on 77 cases of injuries in the neck in the institute of ear, nose and throat during 1970-1994 has shown that the rate of disease free among patients who early hospitalized without complication was 91.6%. The rate of sequela due to the pharyngeal cartilage rupture was 8.41%. The rate of disease free, sequela and mortality among patients who lately hospitalized with complication was 54.5%, 27.3% and 18.2% respectively
Neck ; Neck Injuries

Penetrating injuries of the neck are diagnostic and therapeutic challenges to emergency physicians or surgeons. The neck is unique in that it contains a dense concentration of vital structures in a small anatomic space. Two treatment strategies have emerged over time. First, exploration of all penetrating neck injuries, and second, selective approach based in clinical and diagnostic work-up. We present a previously unreported case in the Korean literature, a zone III neck injury caused by a metal stick penetrating through the neck.
Emergencies ; Neck Injuries* ; Neck*

BACKGROUND: Shoichi Kokubun introduced his successful experience with local anesthetic injection at the occipital insertion of the sternocleidomastoid muscle in K-point syndrome. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the short-term and long-term effectiveness of K-point injection and investigate factors affecting treatment results. METHODS: K-point injection was performed in 58 patients with K-point syndrome at Yeungnam University Medical Center. The syndrome was associated with cervical whiplash injury in 10 patients and was of nonspecific origin in the rest. One milliliter of 2% lidocaine mixed with 1 milliliter of dexamethasone was injected in 50 patients and 2 milliliters of 1% lidocaine alone in the rest. Initially, the severity of local tenderness at the K-point and other tender points was examined and the degree of immediate pain relief effect was assessed within 1 hour after injection. Early effect within 1 month after the injection and current effect were evaluated in 27 patients using a modified Kim's questionnaire with regard to the duration of improvement, degree of improvement in pain and daily living activities, and satisfaction. RESULTS: Of the total 58 patients, 44 (75.8%) apparently had immediate pain relief after K-point injection. The only factor associated with successful immediate pain relief was the whiplash injury associated with traffic accident (TA). The early pain control effect was associated with the immediate effect. The current effect was associated with the early effect alone. Satisfaction with the K-point injection was related to early successful pain relief. CONCLUSIONS: K-point injection would be useful for early pain relief in nonspecific neck pain syndrome so called K-point syndrome, but not for current pain relief. Especially, it was very effective for early pain control in the whiplash injury associated with TA.
Academic Medical Centers ; Accidents, Traffic ; Activities of Daily Living ; Dexamethasone ; Fibromyalgia ; Humans ; Lidocaine ; Neck Pain* ; Neck* ; Whiplash Injuries

PURPOSE: Thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS) causes pain, paresthesia and muscle weakness in neck, upper back, and the upper limbs. The etiologic factor of TOS is associated with car accident. However, in many cases diagnosis of TOS is underdiagnosed and proper treatment was not performed, which consequently lead to chronic pain status. The authors report of cases diagnosed with TOS following car accidents in our hospital. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The retrograde study was conducted on 12 subjects who reported of neck pain and numbness following car accidents from January 2006 to June 2009. The study was conducted through telephone interviews and surveys to investigate the mechanism of the accidents, clinical manifestation, duration of the symptoms from diagnosis to treatment, treatment course and prognosis. RESULTS: Of the 12 subjects diagnosed with TOS, 9 of them were caused by whiplash injuries, and 3 of them were due to lateral side injuries. l0 of the subjects complained of cervical pain and upper limb paresthesia, 4 of the subjects had upper limb pain and 3 of them had only cervical pain as chief complaint. All of the subjects were underwent anterior scalene injections. A total of 8 subjects who were diagnosed with TOS within 4 weeks of the causal event showed symptom improvements while in the group of subjects who were diagnosed after 4 weeks after the injury, only 2 of the subjects showed recovery, 2 recovered for only a brief period of time after the scalene injection and showed chronic pain status. In the 2 cases initially diagnosed as cervical whiplash injury, the diagnosis of TOS was done in 3months and 6months after the accident respectively and the treaatment was delayed. CONCLUSIONS: There is high possibility of TOS after car accidents if cervical pain and numbness on the upper extremity are observed. Better clinical course and prognosis is expected in subjects who were diagnosed and treated within 4 weeks.
Automobiles ; Chronic Pain ; Hypesthesia ; Interviews as Topic ; Muscle Weakness ; Neck ; Neck Pain ; Paresthesia ; Prognosis ; Thoracic Outlet Syndrome ; Upper Extremity ; Whiplash Injuries

OBJECTIVE: To find out the effect of depressive symptoms at acute stage on the course of disease progression in whiplash patients. METHOD: Thirty-eight patients with neck pain after acute whiplash injury were enrolled. The patients were prospectively surveyed within 7 days after whiplash injury and followed up after discharge by telephone interview. Depressive symptoms, self-perceived disability from neck pain, and pain intensity were measured by Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale (CES-D), neck disability index (NDI), and visual analog scale (VAS), respectively. Depressive group was defined as CES-D scores more than 21. The correlation between duration of total treatment and CES-D score and other variables was investigated by calculating independent t-test, Pearson's correlation coefficient and linear regression analysis. RESULTS: The mean overall score of CES-D was 20.8+/-11.7 and 20 (52.6%) patients were classified as depressive group. Depressive group showed longer duration of total treatment (55.1+/-35.1 vs 38.9+/-16.4, p>0.05) and higher pain intensity after total treatment (37.0+/-21.3 vs 29.4+/-20.1, p>0.05) than non-depressive group, but statistical significance was not sufficient. Duration of total treatment was correlated with NDI score (gamma=0.454, p<0.01) and initial pain intensity (gamma=0.349, p<0.05), but not related with socio-demographic factors - age, gender, marital status - and CES-D score. CONCLUSION: Duration of total treatment was correlated with physical disability and initial pain intensity. Depressive symptoms at acute stage of whiplash injury was correlated with both of them. Depressive symptoms could affect the outcome of whiplash injury indirectly through pain intensity and physical disability.
Depression ; Disease Progression ; Humans ; Interviews as Topic ; Linear Models ; Marital Status ; Neck ; Neck Pain ; Prognosis ; Prospective Studies ; Whiplash Injuries

OBJECTIVE: This study aims to visualize the subjective symptoms before and after the treatment of whiplash injury using infrared (IR) thermography. METHODS: IR thermography was performed for 42 patients who were diagnosed with whiplash injury. There were 19 male and 23 female patients. The mean age was 43.12 years. Thermal differences (DeltaT) in the neck and shoulder and changes in the thermal differences (DeltadT) before and after treatment were analyzed. Pain after injury was evaluated using visual analogue scale (VAS) before and after treatment (DeltaVAS). The correlations between DeltadT and DeltaVAS results before and after the treatment were examined. We used Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging equipment of Dorex company for IR thermography. RESULTS: The skin temperature of the neck and shoulder immediately after injury showed 1-2degrees C hyperthermia than normal. After two weeks, the skin temperature was normal range. DeltaT after immediately injuy was higher than normal value, but it was gradually near the normal value after two weeks. DeltadT before and after treatment were statistically significant (p<0.05). VAS of the neck and shoulder significantly reduced after 2 week (p=0.001). Also, there was significant correlation between DeltadT and reduced DeltaVAS (the neck; r=0.412, p<0.007) (the shoulder; r=0.648, p<0.000). CONCLUSION: The skin temperature of sites with whiplash injury is immediately hyperthermia and gradually decreased after two weeks, finally it got close to normal temperature. These were highly correlated with reduced VAS. IR thermography can be a reliable tool to visualize the symptoms of whiplash injury and the effectiveness of treatment in clinical settings.
Female ; Fever ; Humans ; Male ; Neck ; Reference Values ; Shoulder ; Skin Temperature ; Thermography* ; Whiplash Injuries*

Whiplash injury in low-speed traffic accidents are not objectively verified by medical equipment, thereby creating scope for misuse, which has resulted in huge social losses worldwide. The aim of this study was to examine the influence of low-speed vehicular rear-impact collisions on middle-aged men, and to analyze the head and neck injury criteria for the symptomatic human volunteers. Data was examined from the results of 50 dynamic sled tests, originally performed by Hong et al. (2012). In the previous tests, 50 men aged 30~50 years were exposed to an impulse equivalent to a bumper-to-bumper rear collision under medical supervision, and no resulting whiplash injury was identified. In this study, for 6 subjects who experienced dull aches over their bodies, head injury criteria (HIC15) and neck injury criteria (N(km)) were calculated according to the accelerations, forces, and moments at the occipital condyle measured by motion capture system. Although there were no changes in magnetic resonance imaging findings in all subjects at the pre-/post-test orthopedic examination, 6 subjects revealed mild aches around the shoulder, back, or lumbar area, and their symptoms disappeared within 2 days. The head and neck injury criteria, HIC15 (3.086 +/- 2.942) and N(km) (0.077 +/- 0.064) were obtained, and the maximum HIC15 and N(km) were found to be significantly lower than the critical injury assessment reference values (HIC15: 700, N(km): 0.3). Moreover, even though 2 subjects were exposed to the same level of change of velocity (7.9 km/h), each N(km) was significantly different (0.179, 0.057). One can therefore conclude that N(km) can vary according to voluntary movements in the human subject.
Acceleration ; Accidents, Traffic ; Aged ; Automobiles ; Craniocerebral Trauma ; Head ; Human Experimentation ; Humans ; Magnetic Resonance Imaging ; Male ; Neck ; Neck Injuries ; Organization and Administration ; Orthopedics ; Reference Values ; Shoulder ; Whiplash Injuries