Pathological Mechanism and Clinical Practice of Whiplash-Associated Disorders

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-829-5_4How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Whiplash-Associated Disorders (WADs); Cervical spine anatomy; Chronic pain management; Multimodal treatment

Abstract

This review discusses the pathological mechanisms and clinical manifestations of Whiplash-Associated Disorders (WADs, a common clinical term), which result from sudden acceleration-deceleration forces affecting the neck, commonly seen in traffic accidents. Clinical studies and follow-up data demonstrate that many patients continue to experience symptoms such as neck pain, headaches, and upper limb pain long after the initial injury, potentially involving damage to the cervical spine and associated nerves. The etiology of WADs is complex, involving injuries to cervical facet joints, intervertebral discs, and cervicothoracic nerves. Due to the diagnostic challenges, treatment of WADs requires a multimodal approach, including medications, rehabilitation, and psychological interventions. For chronic pain cases, surgical intervention may be necessary. This review emphasizes the importance of a comprehensive understanding of the pathology and clinical presentation of WADs to effectively manage both acute and chronic pain in affected patients.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Yiqin Peng
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/08/28
TI  - Pathological Mechanism and Clinical Practice of Whiplash-Associated Disorders
BT  - Proceedings of the 2025 International Conference on Chemical Engineering and Biological Science (CEBS 2025)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 24
EP  - 32
SN  - 2352-5401
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-829-5_4
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-829-5_4
ID  - Peng2025
ER  -