Whiplash Injuries: The Cervical Acceleration/Deceleration Syndrome (Hardcover)

~ (Author), Arthur C Croft (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Loyola Marymount Univ., Los Angeles, CA. Presents the most current and progressive knowledge of WAS (whiplash-associated disorders), and comprehensive literature. Previous edition: c1995. Halftone illustrations. DNLM: Whiplash Injuries.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 581 pages
• Publisher: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; Third Edition edition (December 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0781726816
• ISBN-13: 978-0781726818
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.2 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,201,698 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The True Encyclopedia of Whiplash, April 29, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Whiplash Injuries: The Cervical Acceleration/Deceleration Syndrome (Hardcover)

Croft and Foreman are to be greatly commended on this work, the BEST in the field of whiplash traumatology. Apparently, there will be a 3rd edition coming soon.

The nonsense coming from Canada this year, including the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) Cassidy study (April 2000) and anything that Robert Ferrari has written, and is likely to write (Whiplash "Encyclopedia"), is an utter shame. The author of the recent NEJM study (Cassidy) has been accused of falsifying data (Emma Bartfay, PhD vs. Cassidy), and the views of QTF and Ferrari on chronic whiplash have been refuted over and over again.

Research in this field is of two types, with one out-weighing the other exponentially: insurance company-sponsored stuff such as Cassidy's, the "Quebec Task Force" or "QTF" study(1995), and much of the Ferrari literature IS VASTLY OUTWEIGHED by the other 95% of the university-based and engineering research that refutes it.

This book, especially in its new edition (pending), is and will be the definitive treatise on whiplash-related injuries. It is not written for the layperson, and covers complex medical topics. However, for physicians and health care professionals working with the whiplash-injured, it is indispensable.

When all the hubbub surrounding the latest weak studies from Canada subsides, Foreman and Croft's work will still be standing tall and unscathed. And that is because these two authors understand the difference between a strong study and a weak one. It is NOT true that you can use the research to prove anything. For example, the April 2000 NEJM study by Cassidy et al. states that when you remove the tort system, whiplash-injured persons miraculously heal faster. But upon closer inspection, it turns out that the authors of this study equate "recovery" with "return to work". They did not report on the physical exam findings of their research subjects at the time of claim closure (so-called "recovery"), so we do NOT really have an honest study.

With Ferrari, he is just so out in left field that one cannot imagine how he survives. The only answer must be that insurance company money is paying for his "research". Is it? Ferrari has been refuted over and over again by Croft and Michael Freeman, DC, PhD, MPH in the literature (see SPINE 1998 and 1999). Ferrari is actually on record as saying that chronic whiplash pain is from a psychological disturbance.

The 1995 QTF study is on record as saying that pain "is not harmful". These are doctors?

Of course, if you have had a brain injury and have been diagnosed with MTBI (mild traumatic brain injury), which is often permanent, there is psychological disturbance. But this is not what Ferrari argues. He basically believes that the millions and millions of chronic whiplash sufferers world-wide are all faking it.

Nikolai Bogduk, one of the top, if not the top, researchers in the world in the study of pain, has conclusively proved that whiplash injuries, even at VERY LOW SPEEDS (less than 5 mph) do damage the cervical zygapophyseal (facet capsules) or "z" joints of the neck, and that those injured in this way have chronic pain, and often full (actually too much) range of motion in their necks. The recent excellent crash tests by Ono, Kanno, Siegmund, Brault, Croft himself, and many, many others all confirm Bogduk's findings in a very conclusive way.

The fact that "researchers" like Cassidy, Ferrari, Russell, and now the NEJM never cite these authors, who are the most respected in the field, is certainly suspect.

I look forward to the next edition of this book, which should address all of the misinformation being propagated by the insurance industry and its representatives (do they fear an even larger class-action suit than big tobacco? You betcha!). Then we can all know the real science, well-written and more thoroughly referenced than any book on whiplash to date.

10 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The best book on whiplash to date!, October 5, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Whiplash Injuries: The Cervical Acceleration/Deceleration Syndrome (Hardcover)

It is not often that you find authors who have so thoroughtly referenced a subject. It is written with a good command of the English language and is carefulle reasoned.

This book should finally lay to rest the myth that whiplash is somehow "not real", a notion that the insurance industry is most likely propagating.

This gem of a book is a must for all clinicians involved in the care and treatment of whiplash and its related disorders. It is also essential reading for all those insurance industry claims reps who are truly concerned about their insured injured persons, and not just their jobs!

6 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books on the subject of Whiplash Injuries., November 26, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Whiplash Injuries: The Cervical Acceleration/Deceleration Syndrome (Hardcover)

The book is well written and provides and in depth look at the diagnosis and treatment of Whiplash (neck injuries). A must read for all health care providers that are serious about treating these injures. May be interesting for some motivated readers not in the health care field.