Abstract
MIST is an acronym for Minor Impact Soft Tissue. The term arises from the premise that a minimal damage motor vehicle collision cannot result in lasting or significant injury. The literature concerning late whiplash is reviewed, focusing on medical research that supports and refutes the MIST concept.
Background. Minor Impact Soft Tissue (MIST) is a descriptive term coined by Allstate Insurance Corporation in 1996 as a means of identifying a segment of patients that are unlikely to sustain chronic symptoms following whiplash and in whom it is presumed that chronic complaints of pain are a psychosocial phenomenon. The MIST concept is based on the assertion that chronic pain following whiplash is not an organic phenomenon. No systematic review of the literature either supporting or refuting the MIST concept has ever been published.
Objectives. To review the medical literature for evidence that chronic (late) whiplash is an organic disorder versus a largely psychosocial phenomenon.
Methods. The medical literature was reviewed in a narrative format.
Results. There are a significant number of studies that support an organic model of late whiplash.
Conclusions. Chronic symptoms following whiplash are explained most readily as an organic condition. Absent strong evidence of psychosocial interference with patient recovery, chronic complaints of pain following whiplash should be evaluated and treated as organic illness
Key Words: