Pathology and Treatment of Traumatic Cervical SpineSyndrome: Whiplash Injury

Traumatic cervical syndrome comprises the various symptoms that occur as a result of external force such as that of a traffic accident.In 1995, the Quebec Task Force on whiplash-associated disorders (WAD) formulated the Quebec classification, with accompanyingclinical practice guidelines. These guidelines were in accordance with the stated clinical isolated or combined symptoms of thesyndrome: neck pain, headaches, dizziness, numbness of head or face, eye pain, vision loss, double vision, tinnitus, hearing loss,nausea, and numbness and/or weakness of extremities. In recent years, cerebrospinal fluid hypovolemia or fibromyalgia has beenrecognized as a major notable cause of a variety of symptoms, although many clinical questions remain regarding the pathologyof this syndrome. Therefore, its diagnosis and treatment should be conducted extremely carefully. While the Quebec classificationand its guidelines are very useful for the normalization and standardization of symptoms of traumatic cervical syndrome, in thefuture, we would like to see the emergence of new guidelines that better address the diversity of this disease.