Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31811333›Full record

Trial reportEuropean journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society2021

The effect of steroid treatment on whiplash associated syndrome: a controlled randomized prospective trial.

Gad Shaked, Daniela Shaked, Gilbert Sebbag, David Czeiger

Registry-linked trialAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
PubMed Publisher
In one paragraph

Trial report in European journal of trauma and emergency surgery : official publication of the European Trauma Society, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT02090309 (The Association Between Low Cortisol Level and Whiplash Syndrome and the Effect of a Single Hydrocortisone Injection on Neck Symptoms Among Motor Vehicle Accident Victims), which is not on this map. Cited by 4 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed, 3 pooled it
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 34% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

NCT02090309 phase2unknown statusnot on this map

The Association Between Low Cortisol Level and Whiplash Syndrome and the Effect of a Single Hydrocortisone Injection on Neck Symptoms Among Motor Vehicle Accident Victims: a Randomized Placebo Controlled Double Blinded Study

TypeinterventionalSponsorSoroka University Medical CenterRan2014 to 2016Enrolled90ConditionsInjuries, WhiplashArmsHydrocortisone, normal saline 0.9%
3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Pooled it
  4. Investigational drugs in PTSD.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2026
    Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Gad ShakedDepartment of General Surgery and Trauma Unit, Soroka University Medical Center and Ben-Gurion University, Wingate St. 64, 84101, Beer Sheva, Israel. shakedg@bgu.ac.il.
Daniela ShakedPhysical Therapy Department, Recanati School for Community Health Professions, Faculty of Health Sciences, Ben-Gurion University, Beer Sheva, Israel.
Gilbert SebbagDepartment of General Surgery and Trauma Unit, Soroka University Medical Center and Ben-Gurion University, Wingate St. 64, 84101, Beer Sheva, Israel.
David CzeigerDepartment of General Surgery and Trauma Unit, Soroka University Medical Center and Ben-Gurion University, Wingate St. 64, 84101, Beer Sheva, Israel.
Ben-Gurion University of the Negev · IL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

purposeThere is significant evidence in the literature that low or relatively low cortisol concentrations near the time of an accident are associated with more severe forms of whiplash-associated disorders. We hypothesized that treating patients that were involved in a motor vehicle accident with hydrocortisone would alleviate the incidence and severity of these disabling disorders.

methodsA prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Blunt trauma patients that underwent a motor vehicle crash were allocated into a study group that received a single bolus of hydrocortisone and a control group that received saline. The patients were followed for 1 month. The incidence and severity of whiplash associated disorder, functional disturbances, and post-traumatic stress disorder were compared between the two groups. The analyses were repeated for sub-divisions into groups of high and low admission cortisol.

resultsThe more severe forms of whiplash-associated disorders on the day of accident were associated with low cortisol levels; mean cortisol concentration of the lower grade of whiplash patients (13.09 ± 7.35 µg%) was higher than that of whiplash syndrome of the severe forms (8.33 ± 3.45 µg), p = 0.001. There were no differences between study and control groups regarding whiplash-associated disorders, functional tests, and severity of stress disorder 1 month after the accident. Significant differences were evident between high and low cortisol sub-groups. Those who had low cortisol level on admission and received hydrocortisone had worse outcomes.

conclusionSteroid treatment of patients with whiplash might be harmful to those who present with low cortisol concentrations (< 9.5 μg/dL).

trial registrationClinical Trials: Association between low cortisol levels and whiplash syndrome. Date of registration: March 18, 2014. Date the first participant was enrolled: May 10, 2014. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: NCT02090309. URL: https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02090309 .

Indexed as

Stress Disorders, Post-TraumaticWhiplash InjuriesAccidents, TrafficHumansHydrocortisoneProspective StudiesHydrocortisoneCortisolNeck injuryPTSDSteroidsTraumaWhiplash

Identifiers

PMID31811333
OpenAlexW2994225173

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.