Osteopathic Manipulative Treatment for Chronic Neck Stiffness After a Motor Vehicle Collision: A Case Report.

Neck pain is a multifactorial condition, and one common cause is cervical spine injury related to motor vehicle collision (MVC). Injuries from MVCs range from whiplash to cervical spine fracture and can manifest in various ways including neck stiffness, decreased range of motion, and neurological deficits. One method of management currently underutilized is osteopathic manipulative treatment (OMT), which can be used to treat pain and range of motion deficits resulting from MVCs. While a few studies in the literature have documented a statistically significant benefit of OMT in chronic pain syndromes, there is little data on its effectiveness in treating patients after MVCs. We present a case of a 25-year-old male who first came to the OMT clinic in January 2021 with complaints of neck pain and stiffness that he attributed to an MVC in February 2020. The collision had led to a loss of consciousness, a concussion, ligamentous injury, and a C5 vertebral fracture. At the OMT clinic, the patient complained of daily headaches associated with "flashes of numbness" throughout his whole body and neck stiffness. The patient was treated initially with a full course of physical therapy, but his symptoms plateaued. He has received OMT about once a month for the past two years. He reported an improved range of motion, no further pain, and decreased neurological symptoms at his most recent visit in October 2023. There is scarce high-quality research demonstrating the effectiveness of OMT. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study in the literature to document the use of OMT to treat a patient with a history of cervical fracture with chronic pain and stiffness after an MVC. The closest correlate found during our review of the literature was a case report outlining the successful treatment of post-concussion syndrome after an MVC. Based on the improvement of refractory neck pain and range of motion our patient gained from OMT, further research involving randomized controlled trials needs to be conducted on this topic.