title: Lumbosacral kinematics in the sagittal plane: a radiographic study in vivo.
abstract: Lateral functional radiographs of flexion and extension using Putto's method were examined in 89 normal subjects. A specially-designed radiopaque ruler was placed on each film for calibration. A computer-assisted method was used for digitization and analysis. There were weak negative correlations between age and range of motion, especially at the L4-L5 level (r = 0.437). No significant correlation was noted between age and translation. For flexion-extension rotation, although large variations may limit its usefulness in judging instability in some clinical settings, the data still provide a good diagnostic basis. For translation changes, 2 mm is regarded as acceptable in most cases at levels from L1 to L5, but not at the level of L5-S1 where the average translation change was only 0.4 mm. The differences in the absolute translation value among different positions were not statistically significant (p = 0.064).
authors.affiliation: Department of Orthopedics, National Cheng Kung University Hospital, Medical College, Tainan, Taiwan R.O.C.
authors.forename: R M
authors.initials: RM
authors.lastname: Lin
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Chang
authors.forename: F C
authors.initials: FC
authors.lastname: Su
authors.forename: C Y
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Yu
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D002138:Calibration; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008159:Lumbar Vertebrae / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009068:Movement; D011187:Posture; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011857:Radiographic Image Interpretation, Computer-Assisted; D012016:Reference Values; D012447:Sacrum / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000502:physiology*; D014894:Weights and Measures