title: Posture and low back pain during pregnancy - 3D study.
abstract: Back pain is a common complaint of pregnant women. The posture, curvatures of the spine and the center of gravity changes are considered as the mechanisms leading to pain. The study aimed to assess spinal curvatures and static postural characteristics with three-dimensional surface topography and search for relationships with the occurrence of back pain complaints among pregnant women.
  
  
  
  The study was conducted from December 2012 to February 2014. Patients referred from University Clinic of Gynecology and Obstetrics were examined outpatient at the Posture Study Unit of Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology. Sixty-five women at 4-39 weeks of pregnancy were assessed and surveyed with Oswestry Disability Index; posture was evaluated using surface topography.
  
  
  
  The study confirmed that difficulties in sitting and standing are significant in the third trimester of the pregnancy. The overall tendency for significant lumbar curvature changes in pregnant women was not confirmed. Major changes in sagittal trunk inclination in relation to the plumb line were not observed in the study group.
  
  
  
  The issue regarding how the pregnancy causes changes in spinal curvature and posture remains open for further studies. Presented method of 3D surface topography can reveal postural changes, but that requires several exams of each subject and strict follow-up of the series of cases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medical Informatics and Telemedicine, Medical University of Warsaw, Poland Department of Orthopaedics and Traumatology of Locomotor System, Baby Jesus Clinical Hospital, Warsaw, Poland. w.glinkowski@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Wojciech M
authors.initials: WM
authors.lastname: Glinkowski
authors.forename: Paweł
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tomasik
authors.forename: Katarzyna
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Walesiak
authors.forename: Michał
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Głuszak
authors.forename: Karolina
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Krawczak
authors.forename: Jakub
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Michoński
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Czyżewska
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Żukowska
authors.forename: Robert
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sitnik
authors.forename: Mirosław
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Wielgoś
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D021621:Imaging, Three-Dimensional; D017116:Low Back Pain / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011187:Posture / Q000502:physiology*; D011247:Pregnancy; D011248:Pregnancy Complications / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging* / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013131:Spine / Q000033:anatomy & histology* / Q000000981:diagnostic imaging*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: back pain; posture; pregnancy