The purpose of this systematic review was to assess the evidence concerning the effectiveness of physical therapy intervention on soft tissue neck injury following motor vehicle accident induced trauma. A search of published and unpublished literature resulted in the retrieval of 320 potentially relevant articles. The findings of this overview are inconclusive. There was no evidence to suggest a harmful effect of properly applied physical therapy intervention. The studies indicated a possible weak to moderate positive effect of some interventions including exercises, educational advice on posture and positioning, manual therapy and pulsed electromagnetic therapy on acute or subacute injuries. Generally, the scientific rigor of papers written on physical therapy intervention in the treatment of soft tissue neck injury was very poor and very little of true value in the effective treatment of this condition can be discerned from the literature.

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A brief summary and a critical assessment of this review may be available at DARE