The Cervical Spine Curvature of Posterior Neck Pain Patients Who Visited Emergency Room After Whiplash Injury by Traffic Accident

교통사고 후 응급실에 내원한 경항통 환자의 경추 만곡 연구

Objectives : The purpose of this study is to investigate the cervical spine curvature after whiplash injury by traffic accident. Methods : The cervical lateral radiographs of 102 outpatients who visited emergency room in Kyung-Hee university hospital at Gangdong after whiplash injury by road traffic accident were reviewed to measure the cervical spine angle using C1-7, C2-7 Cobb method, Sagittal tangent method, Jochumsen method and the Ishihara index by two oriental medical doctors. For statistics, we used SPSS version 17.0 for windows. Results : Means of cervical angle are $37.63{\pm}11.34^{\circ}$, $12.92{\pm}9.13^{\circ}$, $16.19{\pm}10.62^{\circ}$, $1.78{\pm}3.37$ and $8.51{\pm}9.78$ by C1-C7 Cobb Method, C2-C7 Cobb Method, Sagittal tangent method, Jochumsen method and Ishihara index, respectively. Hypolordosis is most numeral in patients by C1-C7 Cobb Method(n=40; 39.22%), Sagittal tangent method(n=68; 66.67%). And Straight is the most by Jochumsen method(n=54; 52.94%), but Normal is the most by Ishihara index(n=53; 51.96%). And Female has smaller curvature in cervical spine than male significantly by C2-C7 Cobb method and Sagittal tangent method(P<0.05). Conclusions : Whiplash injury tends to make hypolordosis or straight. And female has more vulnerable curvature than male in whiplash injury.