EEG in whiplash: a reappraisal

Sixty-eight patients with symptomatic cervical whiplash injuries, who did not receive head trauma, had standard electroencephalograms performed with a time span of 1 day to 2 years after the occurrence of the accident. Minimal EEG abnormalities were found in a small number of patients. Plain x-rays, computerized tomography or radionuclide brain scans failed to demonstrate associated structural abnormalities. Twenty-five of the group had 24-hour EEG cassette recordings; 15 of the latter reported specific symptoms of their post-traumatic syndrome during the test but no abnormal EEG correlates were established. Sixteen patients had long-term follow-up studies and no example was encountered of early or late onset post-traumatic epilepsy. These findings contradict previous reports of the greater incidence and severity of EEG abnormalities in patients that have sustained whiplash neck injuries in isolation (no head trauma).