Auto Injury News

Many patients who have been in a car crash suffer from widespread pain and tenderness characteristic of fibromyalgia (FM) syndrome. In fact, the commonalities between the two conditions may result in "spuriously inflated rates" of fibromyalgia diagnoses among auto injury patients, suggests a 2011 study.

This interesting case study illustrates the potential relationship between neck trauma, delayed onset of neck pain, and dysphagia.

Auto injury patients often complain of shoulder soreness, and scientists are beginning to understand why. While previous research has studied shoulder dysfunction in whiplash patients, a new study examined the mechanisms behind this process.

In many patients with injuries from rear-end collisions, the signs of tissue damage are hard to see. Researchers continue to debate how this tissue damage happens. The journal Spine recently published a literature review that examines the research being done in this area.

One factor that has been shown to increase the chance of developing chronic symptoms after a car crash is having one's head turned at the time of impact. Clinically, occupants who have their head turned during a rear-end collision are significantly more likely to develop chronic symptoms.

This study examined the differences in cervical spine proprioception in a group of auto injury patients and healthy controls.

In this study, Swedish researchers performed MRI exams on 39 auto injury patients an average of 11 days their accidents. These same patients were re-examined by MRI two years later, and the findings were compared.

This report from the 1999 World Congress on Whiplash-Associated Disorders studied the relationship between early symptoms after whiplash accidents and the rate of recover from these injuries. The authors analyzed data from 2,627 whiplash cases in the province of Quebec, Canada. These patients were followed for seven years.

Pedestrians and pedal cyclists face a high number of casualties when compared with vehicle occupants. These vulnerable road users generally fall to the ground or road after impact with a vehicle. This secondary impact poses an additional risk for injuries. However, the relative importance of the road as an injury source compared to the striking vehicle has not been extensively studied.

Do patients with auto injuries experience worse sleep quality than those who are healthy or who have other types of neck pain? A recent study sought to measure the differences in sleep quality between patients with car crash pain, mechanical neck pain, and no neck pain. The researchers wanted to examine the relationship between pain intensity, disability, and sleep quality.