Minor whiplash head injury with major debilitation.

A group of patients suffering major debility after minor whiplash head trauma, seen in one office practice, has been retrospectively studied. Typically, acute neck and upper back aches and headache evolved into a multiple somatic, affective and cognitive dysfunction syndrome. Neuropsychological evaluations noted impairments on tests of cognitive flexibility, non-verbal reasoning, new learning/memory, psychomotor agility, and attention. However, in the subacute period, neurological examination, imaging and clinical electrophysiological studies were unable to localize, structurally or functionally, the source of the above dysfunctions.