Translation and rotational Profiles of Lumbar Vertebrae in Flexion-Extension Radiography

Abstract Enough information about lumbar vertebrae translation and rotation in Iranian population is not available. So, A preliminary study aimed to study of quantitative motion profiles of lumbar spine in Iranian population was done. A total of 22 healthy volunteer males aged between 21-43 years participated in this deh1ive study. Radiographic variables contain vertebral translation and rotation in sagital plane which were calculated with Panjabiُs method. The method proposed from putto was used for lumbar flexion – extension radiography. Three radiographies were taken in neutral, full flexion and full extension positions. The variables were calculated using CARA software after scanning. The deh1ive statistics were utilized to deh1ion of variables. The results demonstrated 1. 15 mm translation in L1-2 level, 1. 58 mm in L2-3 level, 2. 4 mm in L3-4 level, 2. 80 mm in L4-5 level and 1. 18 mm in L5-S1 level. For rotational motion, results showed 10. 25 º rotations in L1-2 level, 11. 83º in L2-3 level, 13. 61º in L3-4 level, 17. 11º in L4-5 level and 16. 26º in L5-S1 level. The results of present study demonstrated average translation less than 3 mm and average rotation less than 20º in lumbar motion segments. These results support idea of some researchers and are disagree with some others.