Early mobilization of acute whiplash injuries.

BMJPublished 8 March 1986Open access

K. Mealy, H Brennan, GC Fenelon

DOI10.1136/bmj.292.6521.656

Citations236

TL;DR

A randomised study in 61 patients comparing the standard treatment with an alternative regimen of early active mobilisation for acute whiplash injuries showed that eight weeks after the accident the degree of improvement seen in the actively treated group compared with the group given standard treatment was significantly greater.

Abstract

Acute whiplash injuries are a common cause of soft tissue trauma for which the standard treatment is rest and initial immobilisation with a soft cervical collar. Because the efficacy of this treatment is unknown a randomised study in 61 patients was carried out comparing the standard treatment with an alternative regimen of early active mobilisation. Results showed that eight weeks after the accident the degree of improvement seen in the actively treated group compared with the group given standard treatment was significantly greater for both cervical movement (p less than 0.05) and intensity of pain (p less than 0.0125).

Keywords

Medicine

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