Whiplash: myth or reality?

Pathology and Treatment of Traumatic Cervical Spine Syndrome: Whiplash Injury

Traumatic cervical syndrome comprises the various symptoms that occur as a result of external force such as that of a traffic accident. In 1995, the Quebec Task Force on whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) formulated the Quebec classification, with accompanying clinical practice guidelines. These guidelines were in accordance with the stated clinical isolated or combined symptoms of the syndrome: neck pain, headaches, dizziness, numbness of head or face, eye pain, vision loss, double vision, tinnitus, hearing loss, nausea, and numbness and/or weakness of extremities. In recent years, cerebrospinal fluid hypovolemia or fibromyalgia has been recognized as a major notable cause of a variety of symptoms, although many clinical questions remain regarding the pathology of this syndrome. Therefore, its diagnosis and treatment should be conducted extremely carefully. While the Quebec classification and its guidelines are very useful for the normalization and standardization of symptoms of traumatic cervical syndrome, in the future, we would like to see the emergence of new guidelines that better address the diversity of this disease.

Whiplash Syndrome Reloaded: Digital Echoes of Whiplash Syndrome in the European Internet Search Engine Context

Background

In many Western countries, after a motor vehicle collision, those involved seek health care for the assessment of injuries and for insurance documentation purposes. In contrast, in many less wealthy countries, there may be limited access to care and no insurance or compensation system.

Objective

The purpose of this infodemiology study was to investigate the global pattern of evolving Internet usage in countries with and without insurance and the corresponding compensation systems for whiplash injury.

Methods

We used the Internet search engine analytics via Google Trends to study the health information-seeking behavior concerning whiplash injury at national population levels in Europe.

Results

We found that the search for “whiplash” is strikingly and consistently often associated with the search for “compensation” in countries or cultures with a tort system. Frequent or traumatic painful injuries; diseases or disorders such as arthritis, headache, radius, and hip fracture; depressive disorders; and fibromyalgia were not associated similarly with searches on “compensation.”

Conclusions

In this study, we present evidence from the evolving viewpoint of naturalistic Internet search engine analytics that the expectations for receiving compensation may influence Internet search behavior in relation to whiplash injury.