Whiplash Associated Disorders, A Simple Guide To The Condition, Diagnosis, Treatment And Related Conditions

By Kenneth Kee

This book describes Whiplash Associated Disorders, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases

A whiplash is a frequent medical disorder that happens during a motor car accident due to the sudden jerking of the neck after a high impact collision.

Whiplash Associated Disorders (WAD) is a variety of injuries to the soft tissues of the neck from a sudden jerking or "whipping" of the head linked with extension of the neck.

This type of movement strains the muscles and ligaments of the neck beyond their normal range of motion.

When a vehicle halts suddenly in a crash or is hit from behind, the seat belt will stop the person's body from being thrown forward.

But the head may still snap forward, then backward, producing a whiplash injury.

Cervical acceleration-deceleration (CAD) depicts the mechanism of the injury while the term whiplash associated disorders (WAD) depicts the injury sequel and symptoms.

The term "whiplash" injury was first used to define acceleration-deceleration injuries happening to the cervical spine or neck region.

This term was altered to an all-encompassing term called whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) that have been refined to depict any compilation of neck-related symptoms after a motor vehicle accident (MVA).

The difficulty that seems in depicting these injuries is due to the fact that there is, by definition, no structural pathology diagnosed after a comprehensive diagnostic workup.

WADs are a diagnosis of exclusion.

The injury may be:

1. Acute with full recovery or
2. Chronic with residual long term pain, disability, and medical resource utilization

Causes
1. Car accidents,
2. Roller coasters and other amusement park rides,
3. Sports injuries or being punched or shaken.
A sudden blow to the head or neck during contact sports such as boxing or rugby
4. A slip or fall where the head is suddenly and violently jolted backwards
5. Being struck on the head by a heavy or solid object
6. Whiplash is one of the hallmarks of shaken baby syndrome.

The suspected underlying mechanisms of pathophysiology had blamed multi-factorial elements such as vertebral distraction to the facet joint capsule region of the cervical spine causing pain.

Other plausible explanations can be any combination of minor injuries to:
1. The facet joint,
2. Spinal ligaments,
3. Dorsal root ganglia/nerve roots,
4. Intervertebral discs, cartilage, and
5. Paraspinal muscle spasms

Contusions of the intra-articular meniscus hemarthrosis may produce symptoms consistent with WADs.

The injury happens in three stages with a rapid loss of lordosis.

Both the upper and lower spines have flexion in stage one.

In stage two the spine takes on an S-shape while it starts to extend and ultimately straighten to make the neck lordotic again.

The final phase shows the complete spine in extension with an intense sheering force that produces compression of the facet joint capsules.

The whiplash injury forms the S-shaped curvature of the cervical spine which induced hyperextension on the lower end of the spine and flexion of the upper levels, which surpasses the physiologic limits of spinal mobility.

The Quebec task force suggested a classification to depict the severity of the whiplash injury.

1. In Grade 1 the patient has complaints of neck pain, stiffness, or tenderness with no positive findings on physical exam.

2. In Grade 2 the patient shows musculoskeletal signs such as decreased range of motion and point tenderness.

3. In Grade 3 the patient also reveals neurological signs that may involve sensory deficits, decreased deep tendon reflexes, muscle weakness.

4. In Grade 4 the patient reveals a fracture.

TABLE OF CONTENT
Introduction
Chapter 1 Whiplash Associated Disorders
Chapter 2 Causes
Chapter 3 Symptoms
Chapter 4 Diagnosis<

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kenneth Kee
• Release date: Feb 3, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463806616

Kenneth Kee

Medical doctor since 1972.Started Kee Clinic in 1974 at 15 Holland Dr #03-102, relocated to 36 Holland Dr #01-10 in 2009.Did my M.Sc (Health Management ) in 1991 and Ph.D (Healthcare Administration) in 1993.Dr Kenneth Kee is still working as a family doctor at the age of 74However he has reduced his consultation hours to 3 hours in the morning and 2 hours inthe afternoon.He first started writing free blogs on medical disorders seen in the clinic in 2007 on http://kennethkee.blogspot.com.His purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of his patients which is also his dissertation for his Ph.D (Healthcare Administration). He then wrote an autobiography account of his journey as a medical student to family doctor on his other blog http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.comThis autobiography account “A Family Doctor’s Tale” was combined with his early “A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders” into a new Wordpress Blog “A Family Doctor’s Tale” on http://ken-med.com.From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 1000 eBooks.He apologized for typos and spelling mistakes in his earlier books.He will endeavor to improve the writing in futures.Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.The later books go into more details of medical disorders.He has published 1000 eBooks on various subjects on health, 1 autobiography of his medical journey, another on the autobiography of a Cancer survivor, 2 children stories and one how to study for his nephew and grand-daughter.The purpose of these simple guides is to educate patient on health disorders and not meant as textbooks.He does not do any night duty since 2000 ever since Dr Tan had his second stroke.His clinic is now relocated to the Buona Vista Community Centre.The 2 units of his original clinic are being demolished to make way for a new Shopping Mall.He is now doing some blogging and internet surfing (bulletin boards since the 1980's) startingwith the Apple computer and going to PC.The entire PC is upgraded by himself from XT to the present Pentium duo core.The present Intel i7 CPU is out of reach at the moment because the CPU is still expensive.He is also into DIY changing his own toilet cistern and other electric appliance.His hunger for knowledge has not abated and he is a lifelong learner.The children have all grown up and there are 2 grandchildren who are even more technically advanced than the grandfather where mobile phones are concerned.This book is taken from some of the many articles in his blog (now with 740 posts) A Family Doctor’s Tale.Dr Kee is the author of:"A Family Doctor's Tale""Life Lessons Learned From The Study And Practice Of Medicine""Case Notes From A Family Doctor"

Book preview

Whiplash Associated Disorders,

A

Simple

Guide

To

The Condition,

Diagnosis,

Treatment

And

Related Conditions

By

Dr Kenneth Kee

M.B.,B.S. (Singapore)

Ph.D (Healthcare Administration)

Copyright Kenneth Kee 2020 Smashwords Edition

Published by Kenneth Kee at Smashwords.com

Dedication

This book is dedicated

To my wife Dorothy

And my children

Carolyn, Grace

And Kelvin

This book describes Whiplash Associated Disorders, Diagnosis and Treatment and Related Diseases which is seen in some of my patients in my Family Clinic.

(What You Need to Treat Whiplash Associated Disorders)

This e-Book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader.

If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy.

Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Introduction

I have been writing medical articles for my blog: http://kennethkee.blogspot.com (A Simple Guide to Medical Disorder) for the benefit of my patients since 2007.

My purpose in writing these simple guides was for the health education of my patients.

Health Education was also my dissertation for my Ph.D (Healthcare Administration).

I then wrote an autobiography account of my journey as a medical student to family doctor on my other blog: http://afamilydoctorstale.blogspot.com.

This autobiography account A Family Doctor’s Tale was combined with my early A Simple Guide to Medical Disorders into a new Wordpress Blog A Family Doctor’s Tale on http://kenkee481.wordpress.com.

From which many free articles from the blog was taken and put together into 800 eBooks.

Some people have complained that the simple guides are too simple.

For their information they are made simple in order to educate the patients.

The later books go into more details of medical disorders.

The first chapter is always from my earlier blogs which unfortunately tends to have typos and spelling mistakes.

Since 2013, I have tried to improve my spelling and writing.

As I tried to bring the patient the latest information about a disorder or illness by reading the latest journals both online and offline, I find that I am learning more and improving on my own medical knowledge in diagnosis and treatment for my patients.

My diagnosis and treatment capability has improved tremendously from my continued education.

Just by writing all these simple guides I find that I have learned a lot from your reviews (good or bad), criticism and advice.

I am sorry for the repetitions in these simple guides as the second chapters onwards have new information as compared to my first chapter taken from my blog.

I also find repetition definitely help me and maybe some readers to remember the facts in the books more easily.

I apologize if these repetitions are irritating to some readers.

Chapter 1

Whiplash Associated Disorders

A whiplash is a frequent medical disorder that happens during a motor car accident due to the sudden jerking of the neck after a high impact collision.

What is Whiplash Associated Disorders?

Whiplash Associated Disorders (WAD) is a variety of injuries to the soft tissues of the neck from a sudden jerking or whipping of the head linked with extension of the neck.

This type of movement strains the muscles and ligaments of the neck beyond their normal range of motion.

When a vehicle halts suddenly in a crash or is hit from behind, the seat belt will stop the person's body from being thrown forward.

But the head may still snap forward, then backward, producing a whiplash injury.

Cervical acceleration-deceleration (CAD) depicts the mechanism of the neck injury while the term whiplash associated disorders (WAD) depicts the injury sequel and symptoms.

The term whiplash injury was first used to define acceleration-deceleration injuries happening to the cervical spine or neck region.

This term was altered to an all-encompassing term called whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) that have been refined to depict any compilation of neck-related symptoms after a motor vehicle accident (MVA).

The difficulty that seems in depicting these injuries is due to the fact that there is, by definition, no structural pathology diagnosed after a comprehensive diagnostic workup.

WADs are a diagnosis of exclusion.

The injury may be:

1. Acute with full recovery or

2. Chronic with residual long term pain, disability, and medical resource utilization.

Incidence

In 2018, whiplash injuries are evaluated to affect 0.3% of people a year in the USA sustained during sporting injuries, falls, and most often motor vehicle accidents.

About 1 million people suffer from a whiplash-associated disorder from a motorcycle accident each year.

Before the use of seatbelts, the rate was 42.5% of patients observed for automobile collisions with neck injuries

The incidence is higher in women with females evident in almost 66% of the population.

What are the causes of Whiplash Associated Disorders?

Causes

1. Car accidents,

2. Roller coasters and other amusement park rides,

3. Sports injuries or being punched or shaken.

A sudden blow to the head or neck during contact sports such as boxing or rugby

4. A slip or fall where the head is suddenly and violently jolted backwards

5. Being struck on the head by a heavy or solid object

6. Whiplash is one of the hallmarks of shaken baby syndrome.

Pathophysiology

Whiplash-associated disorders depict a cluster of neck-related medical symptoms presenting after an MVA or car crash-related mechanism.

The suspected underlying mechanisms of pathophysiology had blamed multi-factorial elements such as vertebral distraction to the facet joint capsule region of the cervical spine causing pain.

Other plausible explanations can be any combination of minor (medically irrelevant) injuries to:

1. The facet joint,

2. Spinal ligaments,

3. Dorsal root ganglia/nerve roots,

4. Intervertebral discs, cartilage, and

5. Paraspinal muscle spasms

Contusions of the intra-articular meniscus hemarthrosis may produce symptoms consistent with WADs or whiplash injuries.

The injury happens in three stages with a rapid loss of lordosis.

Both the upper and lower spines have flexion in stage one.

In stage two the spine takes on an S-shape while it starts to extend and ultimately straighten to make the neck lordotic again.

The final phase shows the complete spine in extension with an intense sheering force that produces compression of the facet joint capsules.

The whiplash injury forms the S-shaped curvature of the cervical spine which induced hyperextension on the lower end of the spine and flexion of the upper levels, which surpasses the physiologic limits of spinal mobility.

The Quebec task force suggested a classification to depict the severity of the whiplash injury.

1. In Grade 1 the patient has complaints of neck pain, stiffness, or tenderness with no positive findings on physical exam.

2. In Grade 2 the patient shows musculoskeletal signs such as decreased range of motion and point tenderness.

3. In Grade 3 the patient also reveals neurological signs that may involve sensory deficits, decreased deep tendon reflexes, muscle weakness.

4. In Grade 4 the patient demonstrates a fracture.

Most WADs are indicated minor soft tissue-based injuries without presence of fracture.

What are the symptoms of Whiplash Associated Disorders?

Symptoms

After an accident, the symptoms of whiplash often require some time (6-12 hours) to develop.

Frequent symptoms of whiplash are:

1. Neck pain and stiffness

The neck pain and stiffness becomes often worse on the day after the injury and may get worse for several days afterwards

This symptom can persist for months or years.

2. Tenderness over the neck muscles

3. Reduced and painful neck movements

4. Headaches

5. The discomfort the patient feels may involve surrounding muscle groups in the head, chest, shoulders, and