Whiplash injury and surgically treated cervical disc disease.

The incidence of a previous whiplash injury in 215 unselected patients who underwent an anterior cervical discectomy and fusion between 1988 and 1991 was found to be twice that of a control population of 800 general orthopaedic outpatients (P < 0.05). The mean age at which the whiplash injury occurred in the surgical group was 37 years and in the control group 36 years. The mean age at operation of those patients with a previous whiplash injury (45 +/- 12 years) was significantly less than those patients without a previous whiplash injury (55 +/- 14 years, P < 0.001). This study provides further evidence that whiplash injury causes structural changes predisposing to premature degenerative disc disease.