Citation

Huntoon MA, Watson JC. Pain Pract. 2007; 7(1): 47-52.

Affiliation

Department of Anesthesiology, Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Rochester, Minnesota 55905, USA. huntoon.marc@mayo.edu

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1533-2500.2007.00111.x

PMID

17305680

Abstract

Motor vehicle accidents result in many patients with chronic head and neck pain, some of which meet the criteria for a "whiplash syndrome." The cervical zygapophysial joint synovium, muscular, and ligamentous strains and other anatomical sites are often implicated in the pathophysiology of these cases. Some patients have a characteristic constellation of vague neurological symptoms, often including headache, posterior neck discomfort, dizziness, nausea, and sometimes visual changes. Recently presented research has noted that some patients who have a whiplash-associated disorder have imaging findings consistent with a low-pressure cerebrospinal fluid leak. Some of these patients respond favorably to high-volume epidural blood patch. The following case presentation focuses on the differential diagnosis of a post-traumatic headache syndrome, specific imaging findings, and treatment strategies.

Language: en