Analysis of the relationship between the double transverse foramen and the possibility of developing clinical symptoms after whiplash

Abstract

Currently, there is no information about the possibility of developing clinical symptoms after whiplash in double transverse foramen subjects. Our aim was to test whether subjects with double transverse foramen have an increased risk of presenting with an acute headache, dizziness, vertebral artery dissection, and vomiting after whiplash.We recorded the absence/presence of double transverse foramen, and the absence/presence of neck pain, acute headache, dizziness, vertebral artery dissection, and vomiting in 85 patients who had suffered whiplash injuries in car rear-end impacts in road traffic accidents. We used the odds ratio test to determine whether double transverse foramen subjects are at a higher risk of developing an acute headache, dizziness, and vomiting than non-double transverse foramen subjects.Although double transverse foramen subjects presented with more clinical symptoms after whiplash, the odds ratio test revealed that their risks of developing acute headache (P = 0.30), dizziness (P = 0.09), or vomiting (P = 0.18) were not significantly greater than in the control group.Double transverse foramen subjects are not at a higher risk of presenting acute headache, dizziness, vertebral artery dissection, and vomiting after whiplash. Clin. Anat. 30:761–766, 2017. © 2017Wiley Periodicals, Inc.