In Vivo Measurements of Lumbar Segmental Motion During Axial Rotation in Asymptomatic and Chronic Low Back Pain Male Subjects

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.