Whiplash injuries in Finland: the situation 3 years later

The Michel Benoist and Robert Mulholland yearly European Spine Journal Review

“…An article from Finland by Miettinen et al [11] reported on the impact of whiplash injury in the long term. A total of 144 injured individuals were recruited from traffic accidents in Finland in 1998.…”

“…Prevalence of low-back pain was evaluated in 204 children, and studied according to three residence zones: urban, suburban and rural. Other independent variables included age [11][12][13][14][15][16], sex, usual activity, time spent watching TV, and time spent walking to and from school. For statistical analysis, children were considered to have low-back pain if, in a validated selfquestionnaire translated into Portuguese, they reported having had several episodes of low-back pain which interfered with their usual activities.…”

Magnetic resonance imaging signal changes of alar and transverse ligaments not correlated with whiplash-associated disorders

“…Whiplash-associated disorders (WADs), which describe a variety of clinical manifestations resulting from whiplash injury, have been extensively reported in patients exposed to high-speed neck trauma, especially vehicle collision [1][2][3][4]. But the pathogenesis of whiplash complaints is still poorly understood.…”

Cinemática del raquis cervical. Definición de patrones de movimiento para la valoración funcional en el síndrome del latigazo cervical

“…Destacan algunas series como la de Miettinen [102], quienes en un estudio realizado en Finlandia en el año 1998, indican que existe una persistencia sintomática tras más de un mes del accidente de tráfico en un 10 % de la población de accidentados. Tras más de 6 meses esta proporción es del 1,5 %, la cual se considera relativamente elevada.…”

“…En ella, los autores describen que después de 1 año del accidente, el 7,8 % de los accidentados no habían recuperado su nivel de actividad previo. Coincidiendo con Miettinen [102], indican que el mejor factor predictor es el grado de limitación de movilidad cervical inicial. Si a este se une el grado de dolor inicial y la existencia de otros síntomas asociados, la predictibilidad del pronóstico puede llegar al 99 %.…”