Injury. 1996 Nov; 27(9): 643-5.

Chiropractic treatment of chronic 'whiplash' injuries.

Woodward MN, Cook JC, Gargan MF, Bannister GC.

University Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Bristol, UK.

Forty-three per cent of patients will suffer long-term symptoms following 'whiplash' injury, for which no conventional treatment has proven to be effective. A retrospective study was undertaken to determine the effects of chiropractic in a group of 28 patients who had been referred with chronic 'whiplash' syndrome. The severity of patients' symptoms was assessed before and after treatment using the Gargan and Bannister (1990) classification. Twenty-six (93 per cent) patients improved following chiropractic treatment (U = 34, P < 0.001). The encouraging results from this retrospective study merit the instigation of a prospective randomized controlled trial to compare conventional with chiropractic treatment in chronic 'whiplash' injury.