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. 2021 Oct 22;20(2):165-171.
doi: 10.1007/s41105-021-00350-9. eCollection 2022 Apr.

Sleep architecture and the absence of trapezius muscle atonia in women with chronic whiplash-associated disorder: a pilot study

Erik L Mateos-Salgado  1 , Benjamín Domínguez-Trejo  1 , Uría M Guevara-López  2 , Fructuoso Ayala-Guerrero  1
Affiliations

Sleep architecture and the absence of trapezius muscle atonia in women with chronic whiplash-associated disorder: a pilot study

Erik L Mateos-Salgado et al. Sleep Biol Rhythms. .

Abstract

Sleep disturbances frequently occur in people with whiplash-associated disorder (WAD) and have been evaluated using questionnaires or actigraphy. It is not clear whether sleep architecture, as assessed by polysomnography (PSG), is altered in individuals with WAD. Additionally, in people with WAD, muscle dysfunction is observed during tasks performed during wakefulness. Thus, this study aimed to analyze the sleep architecture of patients with chronic WAD as well as to evaluate trapezius muscle activity during sleep. Nine women with chronic WAD and nine healthy age-matched women participated in the study. Two PSG recordings were conducted for each participant. Surface electromyography signal samples of the right and left trapezius, and mentonian muscles were obtained from N2, N3, and REM sleep stages for analysis. Significant differences were found in the percentages of total sleep time in the N1 and N2 stages between the two groups. While the muscle tone of the three muscles analyzed decreased progressively across the sleep stages in the healthy group, in the chronic WAD group, this decrement was observed only in the mentonian muscle, and the trapezius muscle continued to exhibit the same muscle tone throughout the sleep stages without atonia during REM sleep. The absence of trapezius muscle atonia during REM sleep in the WAD patients may be related to dysfunction of the mechanisms that regulate motor activity.

Keywords: Polysomnography; REM sleep; Surface electromyography; Whiplash.

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Conflict of interest statement

Conflict of interestOn behalf of all authors, the corresponding author states that there is no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Comparison of the raw EMG signal between sleep stages. a In the WAD patient, only the muscle tone of the mentonian muscle decreased during REM sleep. b The muscle tone of the healthy participant decreased in all three muscles during REM sleep
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Comparison of mentonian muscle activity across sleep stages in both groups. The lines show significant differences at p < 0.017
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Comparison of trapezius muscle activity across sleep stages in the healthy group. The lines show significant differences at p < 0.017
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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