Abstract
Objectives: To compare DITI vs US in a cohort of patients with whiplash syndrome for assessing soft tissues injuries of the cervical and dorsal spine. Methods: 70 patients presenting to clinic with traumatic cervical and/or dorsal spine injury and with a clinical diagnosis of whiplash syndrome underwent both DITI (AVIO TVS 2000) and US (GE Logic 5) of the following muscles: sternocleidomastoid, splenius, trapezius, longus colli and paravertebral muscles. DITI considered positive in the region with the most altered temperature among the injured area examinated (normal range 0℃ - 0.8℃). US valued the cervical and dorsal region with a comparative examination of the soft tissues. The images taken with DITI were compared with the clinical and the sonographic outcomes respectively. US and DITI were considered a) congruent whether both had a positive outcome for the same muscle clinically injured; b) not congruent whether one of the two instruments had a different outcome then the clinical evidence. Wilcoxon paired test was used for statistical analysis. Results: DITI and US matched 153 of 233 (65%) injured muscles. The association between DITI and US in the evaluation of the injured muscles was statistically significant for the following muscles: left trapezius (p Conclusions: According to our preliminary study, DITI and US were both helpful for assessing soft tissues injuries in patients with whiplash syndrome, defining the extent of the biologic damage for a correct clinical-therapeutical management.
Highlights
Whiplash syndrome is diagnosed on the basis of the nature of the trauma and of the patient’s symptoms resulting from mechanical and tissue damage of the cervical and dorsal spine
This article presents the results of our research aimed at investigating soft tissue damage in a cohort of whiplash patients through the use of Digital Infrared Thermal Imaging (DITI) and US
The outcome for DITI and US investigations was positive for 154 damaged muscles out of 233, with a congruence rate of 66.1%, and negative for 79, with a non congruence rate of 33.9% (Tables 1 and 2). out of the muscles positive to DITI, US and clinical examinations shared the characteristics mentioned above in points (c) e (d)
Summary
Whiplash syndrome is diagnosed on the basis of the nature of the trauma and of the patient’s symptoms resulting from mechanical and tissue damage of the cervical and dorsal spine. These symptoms include: neck pain or stiffness; arm and hand numbness or pins and needles; disturbed jaw behaviour; difficulty swallowing; headache; vertigo; blurred vision; diminished hearing; lack of concentration; memory loss and psychological distress [1,2,3].
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