SynthesisPain2022
Nerve pathology and neuropathic pain after whiplash injury: a systematic review and meta-analysis.
Synthesis in Pain, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 22 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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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.
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.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
22 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- The effectiveness of psychological interventions on pain, disability, and psychological symptoms in whiplash-associated disorders: a systematic review and meta-analysis.BMC psychology · 2026Pooled it
- Sex-specific molecular signatures in persistent pain after whiplash injury: an exploratory analysis.Pain reports · 2026Article
- Semaphorins and Their Role in Neuropathic Pain.Life (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- The Role of Muscle Trigger Points in Chronic Whiplash-Associated Disorders with Neuropathic Pain Components: An Exploratory Cross-Sectional Study.Journal of clinical medicine · 2026Article
- Skin inflammatory cytokine gene expression in chronic whiplash-associated disorder: a cross-sectional study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2026Article
- Peripheral Neuropathy Linked to Recreational Nitrous Oxide Use: A Case Report.The American journal of case reports · 2026Article
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- Neuro-immune contributors to persistent musculoskeletal pain: from mechanisms to clinical assessment and management.Musculoskeletal science & practice · 2026Review
- Chronic pain and quality of life among people with whiplash injury in Iceland.International journal of circumpolar health · 2025Article
- Prevalence of positive neural findings in patients attending outpatient physical therapy: an exploratory study.The Journal of manual & manipulative therapy · 2025Observational
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- The presence and prognosis of nerve pathology following whiplash injury: a prospective cohort study.Brain : a journal of neurology · 2025Article
- Usefulness of the DN4, S-LANSS, and painDETECT screening questionnaires to detect the neuropathic pain components in people with acute whiplash-associated disorders: a cross-sectional study.Pain medicine (Malden, Mass.) · 2024Article
- Abnormal Static Sagittal Cervical Curvatures following Motor Vehicle Collisions: A Retrospective Case Series of 41 Patients before and after a Crash Exposure.Diagnostics (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Article
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- Chronic neuropathic pain components in whiplash-associated disorders correlate with metabolite concentrations in the anterior cingulate and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex: a consensus-driven MRS re-examination.Frontiers in medicine · 2024Article
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- Does peripheral neuroinflammation predict chronicity following whiplash injury? Protocol for a prospective cohort study.BMJ open · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
abstractThere is no clear understanding of the mechanisms causing persistent pain in patients with whiplash-associated disorder (WAD). The aim of this systematic review was to assess the evidence for nerve pathology and neuropathic pain in patients with WAD. EMBASE, PubMed, CINAHL (EBSCO), and MEDLINE were searched from inception to September 1, 2020. Study quality and risk of bias were assessed using the Newcastle-Ottawa Quality Assessment Scales. Fifty-four studies reporting on 390,644 patients and 918 controls were included. Clinical questionnaires suggested symptoms of predominant neuropathic characteristic in 34% of patients (range 25%-75%). The mean prevalence of nerve pathology detected with neurological examination was 13% (0%-100%) and 32% (10%-100%) with electrodiagnostic testing. Patients independent of WAD severity (Quebec Task Force grades I-IV) demonstrated significantly impaired sensory detection thresholds of the index finger compared with controls, including mechanical (SMD 0.65 [0.30; 1.00] P < 0.005), current (SMD 0.82 [0.25; 1.39] P = 0.0165), cold (SMD -0.43 [-0.73; -0.13] P = 0.0204), and warm detection (SMD 0.84 [0.25; 1.42] P = 0.0200). Patients with WAD had significantly heightened nerve mechanosensitivity compared with controls on median nerve pressure pain thresholds (SMD -1.10 [-1.50; -0.70], P < 0.0001) and neurodynamic tests (SMD 1.68 [0.92; 2.44], P = 0.0004). Similar sensory dysfunction and nerve mechanosensitivity was seen in WAD grade II, which contradicts its traditional definition of absent nerve involvement. Our findings strongly suggest a subset of patients with WAD demonstrate signs of peripheral nerve pathology and neuropathic pain. Although there was heterogeneity among some studies, typical WAD classifications may need to be reconsidered and include detailed clinical assessments for nerve integrity.
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