Contents - Medicinski Fakultet u Sarajevu - University of Sarajevo

Oral presentationBIOMEHANICAL DAMAGE OF THE CERVICALSPINE-WHIPLASH INJURYNarcisa Vavra – Hadžiahmetović 1 , Zoran Hadžiahmetović 21Clinic for physical medicine and rehabilitation2Emergency DepartmentSarajevo, Bolnička 25, Bosnia and HerzegovinaE-mail: h.vemi@bih.net.baIntroduction: Whiplash, also called neck sprain orneck strain, is an injury to the soft tissues of the neckcaused by biomechanical injury of the cervical spine.The exact injury mechanism that causes whiplash injuriesis unknown. The aim of this paper is to make rulesfor rehabilitation. Examines and Methods: 40 patientswith WNI were treated in Clinical center University ofSarajevo (Clinic for physiotherapy and rehabilitationand in Clinic for urgent medicine) in period 2004/2008.They were divided in two groups – (G1 and G2)with20 patients in each group.G1 group was treated by softcervical collar and analgesics, G2 by physiotherapeuticmodalities. Check was done 6 weeks and 6 months afterinjury and therapy. The aim was to estimate the functionalanswer according diagnosis and therapeuticalmodalities. Results: All patients were divided in fourgrades of Whiplash-Associated Disorder defined by theQuebec Task Force on Whiplash-associated disorders.The authors made 6 weeks follow – up after treatmentof patients and 77% of them had no problems, 23 % patientslost symptoms of WNI after 2 – 6 months. Theycame back to everyday activities in period 1 – 3 monthsexcept 2 of them who needed 6 months. Functionalstatus was good by each group. Conclusion: Presentedvalues of clinical parameters indicate that there was nostatistically significant difference in finale results betweengroups, G1 and G2 (p>0.05).Key words: cervical spine - biomechanical damage - rehabilitation17