Course Details

Most injuries sustained in motor vehicle crashes (MVC) are not catastrophic but are of a musculoskeletal nature. Injuries to the neck (Whiplash Associated Disorders) and lower back are the most common. Although classified as minor, the sequelae of these injuries are far from minor. Many injured people develop persistent co-morbid symptoms of pain, posttraumatic stress, depression and anxiety. Treatment for minor MVC injury is not very effective having only small effects on pain and disability.

Offsetting this otherwise disappointing scenario, are the results of recent trials where stronger effects have been demonstrated using several approaches. For the acute injury stage, early risk stratification and subsequent targeting of identified risk-factors of stress and nociplastic processes by combining treatments (e.g exercise with medication) have resulted in improved health outcomes. In the chronic injury stage, integrating psychological and physiotherapy treatments also shows promise.

  • 1

    Targeted treatment to improve outcomes after whiplash injury [1pt/CPD hr]

    • Targeted treatment to improve outcomes after whiplash injury [1pt/CPD hr]

    • Powerpoint in PDF (Handout)

    • Assessment: Targeted treatment to improve outcomes after whiplash injury [1pt/CPD hr]

Course Learning Outcomes

After completion of this module, participants will:

• Understand the various recovery pathways after whiplash injury.
• Will understand the heterogenous biopsychosocial clinical presentation
• Have knowledge of factors that are predictive of poor recovery after whiplash injury.
• Will gain knowledge on how to use prognostic models in clinical practice
• Have knowledge of the current evidence base for treatment
• Will understand how to integrate psychological treatments into clinical practice

Instructor

Professor

Michele Sterling

Michele Sterling is Professor in the Recover Injury Research Centre and Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence: Better Health Outcomes for Compensable Injury, at The University of Queensland, Australia. She is a titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and a Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists. Michele’s research focusses on the mechanisms underlying the development of chronic pain after injury, predictive algorithms for outcomes and developing effective interventions for musculoskeletal injury and pain. She has conducted numerous cohort studies and clinical trials investigating the effectiveness of various treatments and their combinations including exercise, psychological treatments, manual therapies and multidisciplinary care. She has received over $50M in competitive and industry funding and has 230 peer-reviewed publications in this area. Michele holds numerous leadership positions with the International Association for the Study of Pain including elected member of Council (2016-2022), Chair of the Grants Review Panel and is Chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the 2024 World Congress on Pain in Amsterdam. Michele is a Section Editor of the journal PAIN®.

Professor

Michele Sterling

Michele Sterling is Professor in the Recover Injury Research Centre and Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence: Better Health Outcomes for Compensable Injury, at The University of Queensland, Australia. She is a titled Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist and a Fellow of the Australian College of Physiotherapists. Michele’s research focusses on the mechanisms underlying the development of chronic pain after injury, predictive algorithms for outcomes and developing effective interventions for musculoskeletal injury and pain. She has conducted numerous cohort studies and clinical trials investigating the effectiveness of various treatments and their combinations including exercise, psychological treatments, manual therapies and multidisciplinary care. She has received over $50M in competitive and industry funding and has 230 peer-reviewed publications in this area. Michele holds numerous leadership positions with the International Association for the Study of Pain including elected member of Council (2016-2022), Chair of the Grants Review Panel and is Chair of the Scientific Program Committee for the 2024 World Congress on Pain in Amsterdam. Michele is a Section Editor of the journal PAIN®.