The effect of fatigue on the lumbar intervertebral disc.
Forty-one cadaveric lumbar intervertebral joints from 18 spines were flexed and fatigue loaded to simulate a vigorous day's activity. The joints were then bisected and the discs examined. Twenty-three out of 41 of the discs showed distortions in the lamellae of the annulus fibrosus and, in a few of these, complete radial fissures were found in the posterior annulus.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D005221:Fatigue / Q000150:complications*; D006801:Humans; D007403:Intervertebral Disc / Q000293:injuries* / Q000473:pathology; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae; D008875:Middle Aged; D013314:Stress, Mechanical; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000150:complications*; D013997:Time Factors