Logo of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery (Br)
Quick search:        
          Advanced Search
Guest Access | Sign In
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Submit a response
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me when eLetters are posted
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow My Folders
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Pennal, G. F.
Right arrow Articles by Garside, H.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Pennal, G. F.
Right arrow Articles by Garside, H.

MOTION STUDIES OF THE LUMBAR SPINE

A Preliminary Report

George F. Pennal 1; Garson S. Conn 1; Glen McDonald 1; Gordon Dale 1; ; and Henry Garside 1

1 Orthopaedic Department, St Joseph’s Hospital, Toronto, Canada

1. This is a preliminary report of an attempt to determine an objective reference point or "point of motion" during flexion and extension of the lumbar spine.

2. The method described uses superimposition of lateral radiographs taken in flexion and extension with the patient standing.

3. In seventy-eight radiographically normal subjects with no symptoms a "point of motion" was determined for each of the lowest three disc levels. At each level these points clustered within a specific zone approximately 2·5 centimetres square. Sixty-four per cent fell within a square centimetre.

4. In a comparative study of twenty-four patients with confirmed pathology, the "point of motion" fell outside the larger zone at the level of pathological change in 65 per cent of the disc levels.

5. The determination of the "point of motion" is a special technique for studying spinal motion. Its role as a diagnostic and prognostic aid in assessing patients with back pain is the subject of continuing study.
(c) British Editorial Society of Bone and Joint Surgery All Rights Reserved
Registered charity no: 209299     Print ISSN: 0301-620X
Hip, Knee, Trauma, Upper limb, Foot & Ankle, Paediatrics, Oncology, Spine, Arthroplasty, General