Screening protocol s have high predictive values to detect cervical spine fracture in alert , low-risk patients seeking emergency care after blunt neck trauma .
Computerized tomography ( CT ) scans had better validity ( in adults and elderly ) than radiographs in assessing high-risk and /or multi-injured blunt trauma neck patients .
In the absence of serious pathology , clinical physical examinations are more predictive at excluding than confirming structural lesions causing neurologic compression .
One exception is the manual provocation test for cervical radiculopathy , which has high positive predictive value .
There was no evidence that specific MRI findings are associated with neck pain , cervicogenic headache , or whiplash exposure .
No evidence supports using cervical provocative discography , anesthetic facet , or medial branch blocks in evaluating neck pain .
Reliable and valid self-report question naires are useful in assessing pain , function , disability , and psychosocial status in individuals with neck pain .
CONCLUSION The scientific evidence supports screening protocol s in emergency care for low-risk patients ; and CT-scans for high-risk patients with blunt trauma to the neck .
In nonemergency neck pain without radiculopathy , the validity of most commonly used objective tests is lacking .
OBJECTIVE To critically appraise and synthesize the literature on assessment of  neck pain .
SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA The published literature on assessment of neck pain is large and of variable quality .
There have been no prior systematic review s of this literature .
A new clinical test for cervicocephalic kinesthetic sensibility: "the fly".
OBJECTIVE To investigate the reliability and discriminative ability of a new test design ed to detect accuracy of neck movements . DESIGN Repeated- measures . Case-control . SETTING University musculoskeletal research clinic in Icel and . PARTICIPANTS Twenty women ( mean age + /- st and ard deviation [ SD ] , 30.8+/-9.1 y ; range , 18 - 49 y ) with chronic whiplash-associated disorders ( WAD ) grade s I and II ( duration , 6 mo-6 y ) , with current pain score on a visual analog scale of 46.8+/-21.8 , and a disability score on the Northwick Park Neck Pain Disability Index of 45%+/-14 % . Twenty asymptomatic women ( mean age + /- SD , 29.3+/-8.6 y ; range , 18 - 48 y ) with no history of whiplash or insidious onset neck pain served as controls . INTERVENTION A slowly moving object appeared on a computer screen and traced an unpredictable movement path that the subjects were required to follow by moving their heads . Three r and omly ordered movement patterns were tested . MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE A new software program connected to a 3Space Fastrak system  was used to measure the mean absolute error ( in millimeters ) of 3 trials in each movement pattern . RESULTS The mean differences ( + /-2 SD ) between days 1 and 2 were.01+/-.64 mm for the asymptomatic group and .33+/-1.80 mm for the WAD group . The between-day intraclass correlation coefficients were between.60 and .77 for the asymptomatic group and .79 and .86 for the WAD group . Repeated- measures analysis of variance revealed a significant difference between groups ( P=.02 ) . The Tukey post hoc test showed significant between-group differences for each movement pattern ( P</=.05 ) . In each successive trial , a slight improvement for the asymptomatic group and a slight worsening for the WAD group were detected . CONCLUSIONS Better reliability was detected for the asymptomatic group than for the WAD group . The test could discriminate between the asymptomatic group versus the chronic WAD group
Screening protocol s have high predictive values to detect cervical spine fracture in alert , low-risk patients seeking emergency care after blunt neck trauma .
Computerized tomography ( CT ) scans had better validity ( in adults and elderly ) than radiographs in assessing high-risk and /or multi-injured blunt trauma neck patients .
In the absence of serious pathology , clinical physical examinations are more predictive at excluding than confirming structural lesions causing neurologic compression .
One exception is the manual provocation test for cervical radiculopathy , which has high positive predictive value .
There was no evidence that specific MRI findings are associated with neck pain , cervicogenic headache , or whiplash exposure .
No evidence supports using cervical provocative discography , anesthetic facet , or medial branch blocks in evaluating neck pain .
Reliable and valid self-report question naires are useful in assessing pain , function , disability , and psychosocial status in individuals with neck pain .
CONCLUSION The scientific evidence supports screening protocol s in emergency care for low-risk patients ; and CT-scans for high-risk patients with blunt trauma to the neck .
In nonemergency neck pain without radiculopathy , the validity of most commonly used objective tests is lacking .
OBJECTIVE To critically appraise and synthesize the literature on assessment of  neck pain .
SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA The published literature on assessment of neck pain is large and of variable quality .
There have been no prior systematic review s of this literature .