Effect of axial loading on neural foramina and nerve roots in the lumbar spine. Radiology 1990 Aug;176(2):433-7
Date
08/01/1990Pubmed ID
2367657DOI
10.1148/radiology.176.2.2367657Scopus ID
2-s2.0-0025290572 (requires institutional sign-in at Scopus site) 60 CitationsAbstract
The hypothesis that the neural foramina in some patients are critically narrowed by axial compression of the spine has not been studied with direct imaging techniques. Frozen cadaveric motion segments of the lumbar spine (intervertebral disk and contiguous vertebrae) were imaged with computed tomography (CT). The segments were thawed and compressed in a hydrostatic press to simulate axial loading, and then the segments were frozen and imaged again. The motion segments were subsequently sectioned with a cryomicrotome, and the chronic degenerative changes present in the disks were classified. Pre- and post-compression CT images were compared, and anatomic relationships were studied. In 41 randomly selected segments (some with preexisting radial, transverse, and concentric annular tears), compression diminished the diameters and cross-sectional areas of the spinal canal and neural foramina. In no cases were nerve roots displaced, distorted, or compressed by axial loading. This study suggests that axial loading, such as that produced by ordinary weight bearing, does not critically compromise the neural foramina even in the presence of chronic degenerative disk changes.
Author List
Nowicki BH, Yu S, Reinartz J, Pintar F, Yoganandan N, Haughton VMAuthors
Frank A. Pintar PhD Chair, Professor in the Biomedical Engineering department at Medical College of WisconsinNarayan Yoganandan PhD Professor in the Neurosurgery department at Medical College of Wisconsin
MESH terms used to index this publication - Major topics in bold
AdultAged
Aged, 80 and over
Biomechanical Phenomena
Female
Humans
In Vitro Techniques
Intervertebral Disc
Ligaments
Lumbar Vertebrae
Male
Middle Aged
Spinal Canal
Spinal Nerve Roots
Stress, Mechanical
Tomography, X-Ray Computed
