In vivo segmental vertebral kinematics in patients with degenerative lumbar scoliosis

Fei Xu, Jialiang Lin, Shuai Jiang, Zhuoran Sun, Siyu Zhou, Zhuofu Li, Shaobai Wang, Weishi Li

October 2023, pp 1 - 11 Original Article Read Full Article

First Online: 13 October 2023

Purpose

This study aimed to find a standard of the vertebra kinematics during functional weight-bearing activities in degenerative lumbar scoliosis (DLS) patients.

Methods

Fifty-four patients were involved into this study with forty-two in DLS group and twelve in the control group. The three-dimensional (3D) vertebral models from L1 to S1 of each participant were reconstructed by computed tomography (CT). Dual-orthogonal fluoroscopic imaging, along with FluoMotion and Rhinoceros software, was used to record segmental vertebral kinematics during functional weight-bearing activities. The primary and coupled motions of each vertebra were analyzed in patients with DLS.

Results

During flexion–extension of the trunk, anteroposterior (AP) translation and craniocaudal (CC) translation at L5–S1 were higher than those at L2–3 (9.3 ± 5.1 mm vs. 6.4 ± 3.5 mm; P

Conclusions

The greatest coupled translation was observed at L5–S1 in patients with DLS. Coupled AP and ML translations at L5–S1 were higher than those in healthy participants. These data improved the understanding of DLS motion characteristics.

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