Neurotology in whiplash injuries: Vestibulo-ocular reflexes and visuo-vestibular interaction

Apart from the most serious neurological disturbances, otoneurological clinical features are very important elements in cervical whiplash. Approximately 10 % of patients [1] who have suffered with whiplash injury will develop otological symptoms such as tinnitus, hearing loss, dizziness and vertigo. Some of these are purely subjective symptoms; nevertheless, for the majority there are specific tests that can be undertaken. According to Claussen and Claussen [2], about 15-20 % of subjects involved in a traffic accident develop the so-called late whiplash injury syndrome in which the individual patterns of functional lesions may be documented through appropriated neuro-otological tests.