Reference: The fluctuation in recovery following whiplash injury 7.5-year prospective review Injury Volume 36, Issue 6, June 2005, Pages 758-761 P.J. Tomlinson, M.F. Gargan and G.C. Bannister Key Points from Dan Murphy, D.C. 1. The psychological symptoms suffered by whiplash patients arc secondary to physical injury. 2. In this prospective study, 7.5 years after sustaining whiplash injury: •29% of the patients had no symptoms. •48% had mild symptoms that did not interfere with work or leisure. •21% had intrusive symptoms that interfered with work and leisure and required continued treatment and drugs. •2% had severe problems that required ongoing medical investigations and drugs. This means that 71% of patients had symptoms 7.5 years after being inured. 3. The symptoms of whiplash-injured patients fluctuate widely during a 7.5 year period. 4. It takes 2 years for whiplash symptoms to stabilize. 5. 64% of whiplash-injured patients have the same symptom severity at 7.5 years that they had at 3 months. Therefore, most (64%) whiplash-injured patients require intensive management during the first 3 months following injury, if there is any hope of altering this long-term chronicity. 6. 17% of whiplash-injured patients will have symptom improvement between 3 months and 7.5 years. 7. 19% of whiplash-injured patients will have symptom deterioration between 3 months and 7.5 years. 8. "Between 3 months and 2 years, symptoms fluctuate significantly and, during this time, any estimation of patients' prognosis will be unreliable." |Very Important] 9. The cause of this fluctuation is "important in medico-legal reporting since patients' outcome can only be predicted at 3 months and not confirmed until 2 years." |Very Important) 10. "Therapeutically, the greatest potential for influencing the natural history of whiplash is within 3 months before symptoms become established." Comments from Dan Murphy Perhaps we should see our acute whiplash-injured patients more frequently during the initial 3 months following injury. In an effort to reduce chronic pain and disability from whiplash injuries that are documented in this study, we should treat the patient daily for 2 weeks and then 3 times per week for 10 weeks. This study confirms that the assertion that whiplash-injured patients should recover in 6-12 weeks is absurd. A 1978graduate of Western States Chiropractic College, Dr. Dan Murphy is on the faculty of Life Chiropractic College West, and is the \fce President of the International Chiropractic Association. For more information, visit http://www.danmurphydc.coin
