Segmental vertebral motion in the assessment of neck range of motion in whiplash patients

The purpose of this study was to obtain comparative data concerning the relative contribution of segmental cervical vertebral motion to the cervical range of motion (ROM) in whiplash and healthy subjects in an effort to evaluate the usefulness of X-ray analysis in future forensic and research efforts. Each subject's neck ROM was measured with an optoelectronic system and also by X-ray measurements of the angular rotation in flexion and extension. The X-rays were examined to calculate the angular movement in the sagittal plane of each of the functional units C2-C3 to C6-C7. The chronic whiplash subjects showed reduced total neck range in all directions as compared to healthy subjects (p