The University of Southampton
University of Southampton Institutional Repository

Midlumbar lateral flexion stability measured in healthy volunteers by in vivo fluoroscopy

Midlumbar lateral flexion stability measured in healthy volunteers by in vivo fluoroscopy
Midlumbar lateral flexion stability measured in healthy volunteers by in vivo fluoroscopy
Study Design: prospective fluoroscopic and electromyographic study of coronal plane lumbar spine motion in healthy male volunteers.

Objectives: assess the intervertebral motion profiles in healthy volunteers for symmetry, regularity, and neutral zone laxity during passive recumbent lateral bending motion.

Summary of background data: previous continuous in vivo motion studies of the lumbar spine have mainly been limited to active, weight-bearing, flexion-extension (sagittal plane) motion. No data are available for passive lateral bending or to indicate the motion profiles when muscle activity is minimized.

Methods: thirty asymptomatic male volunteers underwent video-fluoroscopy of their lumbar spines during passive, recumbent lumbar lateral bending through 80° using a motor-driven motion table. Approximately 120 consecutive images of segments L2–L5 were captured, and the position of each vertebra was tracked throughout the sequence using automated frame-to-frame registration. Reference intervals for intervertebral motion parameters were calculated. Surface electromyography recordings of erector spinae were obtained in a similar group of volunteers using the same protocol without fluoroscopy to determine to what extent the motion was completely passive.

Results: correlations between intervertebral and lumbar motion were always positive in controls and asymmetry was less than 55% of intervertebral range. The upper reference interval for the slope of intervertebral rotation in the first 10° of trunk motion did not exceed 0.46 for any level. Muscle electrical activity during the motion
was very low. Examples from patient studies showed markedly different results.

Conclusion: these results suggest that reference limits from asymptomatic data for coronal plane passive recumbent intervertebral motion may be a useful resource for
investigating the relationship between symptoms of chronic (nonspecific) low back pain and biomechanics and in the clinical assessment of patients and interventions
that target the passive holding elements of the spine. Data pooling from multiple studies would be necessary to establish a complete database
0362-2436
E811-E817
Mellor, Fiona E.
51cfdc9d-5e47-47d4-940a-4cb49c907872
Muggleton, Jennifer M.
2298700d-8ec7-4241-828a-1a1c5c36ecb5
Bagust, Jeff
07af10be-d1aa-4521-b4af-dfba7e17cb4c
Mason, William
58bafdc1-32a4-4f1a-ad7e-223b7686d0db
Thomas, Peter W.
170872d9-476f-451f-b32d-c19bd6058de6
Breen, Alan C.
8227c8aa-a9d2-49e3-94c6-7fd7b12e1313
Mellor, Fiona E.
51cfdc9d-5e47-47d4-940a-4cb49c907872
Muggleton, Jennifer M.
2298700d-8ec7-4241-828a-1a1c5c36ecb5
Bagust, Jeff
07af10be-d1aa-4521-b4af-dfba7e17cb4c
Mason, William
58bafdc1-32a4-4f1a-ad7e-223b7686d0db
Thomas, Peter W.
170872d9-476f-451f-b32d-c19bd6058de6
Breen, Alan C.
8227c8aa-a9d2-49e3-94c6-7fd7b12e1313

Mellor, Fiona E., Muggleton, Jennifer M., Bagust, Jeff, Mason, William, Thomas, Peter W. and Breen, Alan C. (2009) Midlumbar lateral flexion stability measured in healthy volunteers by in vivo fluoroscopy. Spine, 34 (22), E811-E817. (doi:10.1097/BRS.0b013e3181b1feba). (PMID:19829245)

Record type: Article

Abstract

Study Design: prospective fluoroscopic and electromyographic study of coronal plane lumbar spine motion in healthy male volunteers.

Objectives: assess the intervertebral motion profiles in healthy volunteers for symmetry, regularity, and neutral zone laxity during passive recumbent lateral bending motion.

Summary of background data: previous continuous in vivo motion studies of the lumbar spine have mainly been limited to active, weight-bearing, flexion-extension (sagittal plane) motion. No data are available for passive lateral bending or to indicate the motion profiles when muscle activity is minimized.

Methods: thirty asymptomatic male volunteers underwent video-fluoroscopy of their lumbar spines during passive, recumbent lumbar lateral bending through 80° using a motor-driven motion table. Approximately 120 consecutive images of segments L2–L5 were captured, and the position of each vertebra was tracked throughout the sequence using automated frame-to-frame registration. Reference intervals for intervertebral motion parameters were calculated. Surface electromyography recordings of erector spinae were obtained in a similar group of volunteers using the same protocol without fluoroscopy to determine to what extent the motion was completely passive.

Results: correlations between intervertebral and lumbar motion were always positive in controls and asymmetry was less than 55% of intervertebral range. The upper reference interval for the slope of intervertebral rotation in the first 10° of trunk motion did not exceed 0.46 for any level. Muscle electrical activity during the motion
was very low. Examples from patient studies showed markedly different results.

Conclusion: these results suggest that reference limits from asymptomatic data for coronal plane passive recumbent intervertebral motion may be a useful resource for
investigating the relationship between symptoms of chronic (nonspecific) low back pain and biomechanics and in the clinical assessment of patients and interventions
that target the passive holding elements of the spine. Data pooling from multiple studies would be necessary to establish a complete database

Text
Pub12400.pdf - Other
Restricted to Repository staff only
Request a copy

More information

Published date: 15 October 2009
Organisations: Dynamics Group

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 169271
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/169271
ISSN: 0362-2436
PURE UUID: 67fe7ff6-6aef-4197-bd58-97c7efcb8ca8

Catalogue record

Date deposited: 14 Dec 2010 08:50
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:20

Export record

Altmetrics

Contributors

Author: Fiona E. Mellor
Author: Jeff Bagust
Author: William Mason
Author: Peter W. Thomas
Author: Alan C. Breen

Download statistics

Downloads from ePrints over the past year. Other digital versions may also be available to download e.g. from the publisher's website.

View more statistics

Atom RSS 1.0 RSS 2.0

Contact ePrints Soton: eprints@soton.ac.uk

ePrints Soton supports OAI 2.0 with a base URL of http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/cgi/oai2

This repository has been built using EPrints software, developed at the University of Southampton, but available to everyone to use.

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue without changing your settings, we will assume that you are happy to receive cookies on the University of Southampton website.

×