TABLE 9.

Summary of a study evaluating occipital nerve decompression for chronic whiplash-associated disorder

Reference, year, country, score	Population and methods	Outcome measures	Results
Magnusson et al (35), 1996, Iceland, no score	Case series. 13 patients with ≥6 months of whiplash-induced pain in the occipital region were selected from a larger subset of patients. All patients underwent occipital nerve decompression surgery; 5 received bilateral decompression in separate procedures	Headache disability, rated on a numerical scale and based on intensity and duration, was assessed preoperatively and at a mean of 28.7 months (range 12–38 months) after surgery	7 operations resulted in a more than 75% reduction in headache disability, 6 resulted in a 50% to 75% reduction, and 5 resulted in minimal or no relief. None of the patients attained complete pain relief