Saturday, April 10, 2010
ICAC Guidelines for Whiplash Disorders Accepted at National
Guidelines Clearinghouse
Charles G. Davis, DC, FICA, FICAC(H)
Ever get deposed and try to explain why the natural course of a whiplash injury may not be
6 weeks? The necessity and appropriateness of the treatment rendered? The medical
reasonableness of the modalities utilized? The medical reasonability of the duration of
treatment rendered?
The management guidelines for Whiplash Associated Disorders by the International
Chiropractors Association of California has met the stringent criteria of the Federal Agency
for Healthcare Research & Quality (AHRQ), and has been accepted for inclusion in the
National Guidelines Clearinghouse (NGC), located at www.guidelines.gov. The NGC is a
comprehensive database of evidence-based clinical practice guidelines and related
documents produced by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), in
partnership with the American Medical Association and the American Association of Health
Plans. The purpose of the NGC database is to provide health care professionals and providers
access to objective, detailed information on clinical practice guidelines and to further the
dissemination, implementation and use of those guidelines.
This guideline of Management of Whiplash Associated Disorders by the International
Chiropractors Association of California provides integrated treatment guidelines for Whiplash
Associated Disorders (WAD).  These management guidelines for Whiplash Associated
Disorders are evidence-based suggestions for appropriate care of patients seeking care.
Recommendations are made for assessment along with time parameters, treatments,
frequency & duration of treatment, staging and grades of injury, prognosis, criteria for
discharge, and a variety of implementation tools, including a Pain Disability Questionnaire
(PDQ), a Core Whiplash Outcome Measure, and an Impact of Event Scale.
While no guideline can replace the clinical decisions made by a practitioner in the course of
caring for an individual patient’s health problem, the suggestions contain herein, are based
on the best available published evidence.  Any approach, by a practitioner, that is different
from this ICAC-Management of Whiplash Disorders Guideline, does not necessarily mean
that the approach in question was below the standard of care.  However, any practitioner,
who adopts a course of action different from this ICAC-Management of Whiplash Disorders
Guideline, is advised to keep sufficient patient records to explain why such an action was
undertaken.
Adherence to these ICAC-Management of Whiplash Disorders Guideline will assist the
practitioner by allowing him/her to practice based on the most current scientific data
available. Following the ICAC-Management of Whiplash Disorders Guideline, it is expected
that the chiropractic practitioner will follow a reasonable course of action based on the best
available knowledge.  It is expected that with the assistance of the ICAC-Management of
Whiplash Disorders Guideline, the practitioner will use the assessment and care suggested
herein to deliver safe and effective care.
Main Participants in the guideline development included: Charles G. Davis, DC – Editor, Art
Croft, DC, MS, MPH, FACO and Dan Murphy, DC, DABCO. However many other authors
contributed to information, draft suggestions, critical reviews, and the final version of the
document.
The nature of a science is that it is constantly evolving.  Due to the variety, complexity,
severity, and intricacy of human health conditions it is impossible to always determine the
appropriate examination, appropriate diagnostic analyses, and to predict with absolute
certainty the patient’s response to care.  The ICAC-Management of Whiplash Disorders
Guideline advances previous research and guidelines on this issue.

 

 

 

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