Whiplash injury and oculomotor dysfunctions: clinical-posturographic correlations

Roberto Storaci, Alessandro Manelli, Nicola Schiavone, Lucia Mangia, Giangiacomo Prigione, Simone Sangiorgi

December 2006, Volume 15, Issue 12, pp 1811 - 1816 Original Article Read Full Article

First Online: 22 March 2006

Oculomotor dysfunctions are hidden causes of invalidity following whiplash injury. Many patients with whiplash injury grade II present oculomotor dysfunctions related to input disturbances of cervical or vestibular afferents. We used static posturography to investigate 40 consecutive patients with whiplash injury grade II and oculomotor dysfunctions. We demonstrated a relation between length and surface of body sway: the surface value (A) was higher than the length value (L) and this led to an open graph of body sway in the statokinesigram. Oculomotor rehabilitation can resolve the impairment of vestibular function but if therapy is delayed or the patient has been wearing an orthopaedic neck collar, more therapeutic sessions are required. In conclusion, without rehabilitation of the oculomotor muscles other therapies are not sufficient to recover the impairment caused by whiplash injury.

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