[Whiplash-associated disorders: a challenge for the expert in compensation claims and litigation]

In the literature, the association between chronic complaints of the cervical spine and sustained"whiplash trauma" is a matter of controversy. Whiplash trauma is identified as contusion, compression, and/or sprain without definite imaging proof of injury to the bone, disk, or ligaments.However, complex chronic complaints leading to permanent and significant functional limitations in daily living and work may develop. Besides the diagnostic and therapeutic challenges for the treating physician, the expert confronted with compensation claims very often must decide whether whiplash trauma of the spine may lead to significant and permanent functional limitations or loss with chronic disorders. The data from the literature dealing with this topic are contradictory and deficient. In this article, based on the present available data from the literature, we critically examine the causality between spinal whiplash trauma and possible permanent chronic complaints in order to support the process of decision making in cases of litigation and controversial compensation claims.