The presence and interrater reliability of thoracic allodynia in a whiplash cohort.
BACKGROUND
The need exists for more definitive clinical signs indicative of abnormal central pain processing following a whiplash injury. Our observations have identified the presence of allodynia in the thoracic spine in patients with neck pain following whiplash injury. The evaluation of allodynia in the thoracic spine in a whiplash injured population may assist in the clinical diagnosis of patients believed to be suffering from central nervous system hypersensitivity.


OBJECTIVE
To evaluate for the presence of allodynia in a cohort of patients with whiplash injury.


METHODS
Thirty-one patients with whiplash injuries were evaluated in this prospective study for the presence of allodynia in the thoracic spine. Thoracic vertebrae were marked by the initial evaluating clinician and a Wartenberg pinwheel was utilized to identify areas of hypersensitivity in the thoracic dermatomes. Patients were instructed to give no verbal clues, so only visual clues, as determined by the clinician, were assessed. A second clinician, blinded to the initial examination results, repeated the examination in the same fashion.


RESULTS
Thoracic allodynia was identified in 70.97% of the observed population. There was a high level of agreement between observers (Kappa coefficient of agreement, 0.8039; 95% CI, 0.7465, 0.8613; P < 0.05). There was no predilection for a particular thoracic dermatome.


CONCLUSIONS
Thoracic allodynia was identified as a common, interrater-reliable, objective physical examination finding in this whiplash cohort.
Bock
Shannon L
SL
11080 Circle Point Rd, Bldg. 2, Suite 140 Westminster, CO 80020, USA. sbock@centenoclinic.com
Centeno
Christopher J
CJ
Elliott
James M
JM