Headache production during physical examination in patients with and without headache atributted to a whiplash injury: A case-control study

BACKGROUND: Provocation of headache on physical examination of the neck may reflect a role of cervical structures in the presence of acute whiplash-associated headache (WAH).

OBJECTIVE: To determine differences in headache provocation during physical tests in people with and without WAH after a whiplash injury.

DESIGN: Case-control study.

METHODS: Forty-seven people with acute whiplash-associated disorders participated, 28 with WAH. Passive accessory intervertebral movement over the tubercle of C1, the spinous processes of C2-C3 and facet joints of C0-C4, the flexion-rotation test (FRT), manual palpation of cranio-cervical muscles and the upper limb neurodynamic test + cranio-cervical flexion were assessed bilaterally twice by a blinded examiner; headache provocation was determined. Cohen's kappa and Chi-squared were determined to evaluate the intra-rater reliability of test results and differences between groups, respectively. A logistic regression model was also performed.

RESULTS: Intra-rater reliability of headache provocation was good or excellent for most tests. Significant differences between groups were found with higher positive tests in WAH for the assessment of C2 (68%), the most painful side of C0-C1 (57%), C1-C2 (75%) and C2-C3 (53%), most (79%) and least (25%) restricted sides of the FRT, and manual palpation of the most painful side for the trapezius (53%), masseter (50%) and temporalis (46%) muscles. Provocation of headache during the assessment of C2 and C1-C2 on the most painful side demonstrated the highest association with WAH.

CONCLUSION: Mechanical provocation of headache is more frequent in people with WAH than in those without headache soon after a whiplash injury.