Whiplash Symptoms Clinical Trial
Official title:
Treating Selected Chronic WAD Patients: Cervical Fusion or Multidimensional Rehabilitation. A Randomized Study
Background: The majority of patients suffering a whiplash injury (WAD) will recover, but
some may have symptoms for years despite all kinds of conservative treatment. The Neck Pain
Task Force (2008) found no existing evidence for positive effects of fusion operations in
such patients. Some of them, however, present with symptoms that might indicate pain from a
motion segment, possibly the disc. Our aim was therefore to test this possibility by
performing a randomized study comparing cervical fusion and multimodal rehabilitation in
chronic WAD patients.
Methods: Patients with a specified symptomatology, all with pronounced symptoms for long
periods of time, were recruited and randomized to surgery (25 pat.) or to multimodal
rehabilitation (24 pat.). All patients were investigated before start of the study and at
follow-up approximately two years after treatment by four independent examiners from
disciplines usually involved in treating WAD patients. The patients also gave their own
assessments of the treatment results. Seven patients in each group did not undergo the
allocated treatment for various reasons.
Outcomes:
representing different disciplines: neurology, orthopedics, physical medicine and
psychology. Each patient´s perceived change in outcome was also assessed. Assessment was
made before treatment and at follow-up two years afterwards.
In addition to the assessments of outcome made by the examiners, the patients completed the
SF-36, EQ-5D and BIS (Balanced Inventory for Spinal Disorders) questionnaires before
treatment and at follow-up. The results of these assessments will be given in a forthcoming
paper.
6b. No changes in trial outcomes were made during the study.
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Primary Purpose: Treatment