INTRODUCTION The surface method of measuring lower thoracic and lumbar spine motion with Fastrak ® was examined for validity. There is an increasing awareness of the health risks of exposure to radiation associated with repeated radiographic assessment of spinal curvature and spinal movements. As a skin-surface measurement device, Fastrak ® was employed to study the effect of low bone mineral d...

A retrospective review of 70 consecutive lumbar degenerative surgical cases in which intraoperative fluoroscopic imaging was compared with immediate postoperative radiographs using a novel vertebral grid-coordinate system. Same-hospitalization postoperative standing lumbar AP and lateral radiographs do not appear to be cost-effective or to provide additional clinically relevant information when...

In the setting of spinal trauma, the bone, ligaments, spinal cord, and vascular structures may be injured. Anatomically, the vertebral bony spine can be divided into structural columns. The cervical spine is traditionally divided into two columns— anterior and posterior. The anterior column consists of the load-bearing vertebral bodies, intervertebral disks, anterior longitudinal ligament, and ...

BACKGROUND Fast-bowlers in cricket subject their spines to repetitive stress. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to review the prevalence of lumbar spine injuries among fast-bowlers. MATERIALS AND METHODS Medline and embase searches were performed. Further, the authors canvassed the reference list of available articles and used other search engines such as Google Scholar to identify a tot...

This study investigated the use of the geometric alignment of two frontal lines (the sternum and abdominal) for predicting alignment of the thoracic and lumbar spines and for measuring wheelchair-seated posture. The sternum line connects the upper sternum point and the lower sternum point. The abdominal line connects the lower sternum point and the center point between the right and left anteri...

Objective: The effects of spinal rigidity correlate positively with low back pain. Although spine flexibility has also been considered important for preventing stress-related lumbar disorders, the effects of spinal rigidity on mechanical stress during lumbar motion have rarely been reported. Methods: A biomechanical investigation and finite element analysis were conducted to elucidate the effec...

OBJECTIVES To develop and validate a new method of predicting the neutral lumbar spine curve from external (non-invasive electrogoniometer) measurements. BACKGROUND Non-invasive techniques for lumbar spine geometry prediction suffer from a lack of a complete geometry description, problems with applicability to field conditions, or both. METHODS The study consisted of three steps. First, uti...

To establish an incidence of cervical spine injuries in significant blunt head trauma and to evaluate the necessity of using cervical radiography, all consecutive cases of blunt head trauma admitted to the trauma service over a 7-month period were reviewed. Two hundred twenty-eight charts were reviewed for demographic information, circumstance of injury, complaints and physical findings referab...

Extreme lateral interbody fusion (XLIF) has gained popularity among spine surgeons for treating multiple conditions of the lumbar spine. In contrast to the anterior lumbar interbody fusion (ALIF) approach, the minimally invasive XLIF approach affords wide access to the lumbar disc space without an access surgeon and causes minimal tissue disruption. The XLIF approach offers many advantages over...

Concomitant spine and hip disease in patients undergoing total hip arthroplasty (THA) presents a management challenge. Degenerative lumbar spine conditions are known to decrease lumbar lordosis and limit lumbar flexion and extension, leading to altered pelvic mechanics and increased demand for hip motion. In this study, the effect of lumbar spine disease on complications after primary THA was a...