Back Pain Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Back Pain, including details on lower back pain, sciatica, treatment, prevention, medication.

In vivo measurements of lumbar segmental motion during axial rotation in asymptomatic and chronic low back pain male subjects.

Ochia RS, Inoue N, Takatori R, Andersson GB, An HS

Department of Orthopedic Surgery, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL 60612, USA.

STUDY DESIGN: Twenty male volunteers in their 30s (10 asymptomatic and 10 chronic low back pain) were passively rotated and CT scanned to determine lumbar segmental motion. OBJECTIVES: To determine the feasibility of measuring 3-dimensional segmental motion in vivo in pain subjects. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA: Axial rotational spinal instability has been implicated as a potential cause of low back pain. Previous studies have not compared 3-dimensional segmental motions between healthy and symptomatic subjects due to torsion. METHODS: Lumbar segmental motions were calculated using volume merge method in 3 major planes from 3-dimensional CT reconstructions. Disc degeneration grade was analyzed from MRI using the Thompson's grading method. RESULTS: All subjects could perform the imaging study without significant increase in pain. No differences were seen in disc degeneration grade or segmental motions between the 2 groups. Segmental motion differences were seen in torsion, lateral bending, and frontal translation based on spinal level. CONCLUSIONS: Current noninvasive CT-based method is feasible for use in healthy and low back pain subjects. Measured segmental motions were similar to other studies in torsion; however, other motions have not been measured previously.

Published 4 June 2007 in Spine, 32(13): 1394-9.
Full-text of this article is available online (may require subscription).

© 2004-2008 Back Pain Research Today. All Rights Reserved.