ArticleHealthcare (Basel, Switzerland)2021
Use of Soft Cervical Collar among Whiplash Patients in Two Italian Emergency Departments Is Associated with Persistence of Symptoms: A Propensity Score Matching Analysis.
Article in Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland), 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 1 paper.
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Who cites it
1 citing paper in PubMed.
- A population-based survey of beliefs about neck pain and its associated disorders: a cross-sectional study.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
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15 authors.
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No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeAlthough the use of soft cervical collars in the emergency department (ED), for whiplash-associated disorders (WAD), is controversial, it is still widely adopted. The purpose of our study was to investigate the impact of the early use of soft cervical collars on the return to the ED, within three months of a road traffic collision.
methodsWe conducted a retrospective observational study on WAD patients from two EDs in Verona (Italy). Patients in the earlier acute phase of WAD (within 48 h from the trauma) were included; those with serious conditions (WAD IV) were excluded. As an end point, we considered patients who returned to the ED complaining of WAD symptoms within three months as positive outcome for WAD persistence.
results2162 patients were included; of those, 85.4% (n = 1847/2162) received a soft cervical collar prescription. Further, 8.4% (
conclusionsOur study shows that the positioning of the soft collar in a cohort of patients with acute WAD, following a rear-end car collision, is an independent potential risk factor to the return to the ED. Clinically, the use of the collar is a non-recommended practice and seems to be related to an increased risk of delayed recovery. There is a need to inform healthcare providers involved in the ED of the aim to limit the use of the soft cervical collar. A closer collaboration between clinicians (e.g., physicians, physical therapists, nurses) is suggested in the ED. Future primary studies should determine differences between having used or not having used the collar, and compare early physical therapy in the ED compared with the utilization of the collar.
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