Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To establish the prevalence of new vestibular and otological symptoms in a group of patients who had sustained a low grade (Quebec grades one or two) whiplash injury.

METHODS: A retrospective review of the case records of 109 patients undergoing assessment by a single practitioner for the purposes of compiling a medicolegal report on their whiplash injury.

RESULTS: Four patients complained of short-lived, non-specific dizziness symptoms in the acute phase following their original injury. There were no reports of vertigo, tinnitus or hearing loss after a mean period of 149 days following the whiplash injury.

CONCLUSIONS: No patients reported otological or persistent vestibular symptoms in the acute phase following their whiplash injury. This suggests that caution should be exercised when attributing these symptoms to such an injury. Before whiplash injuries are admitted as an aetiological factor in the development of such symptoms, other causes should be excluded.