Analysis of the Effects of Trauma on the Biomechanical Behavior of the Cervical Spine Based on Finite Element Modeling

Cervical spine injuries often cause disability and adversely affect the overall performance and life quality of people. Therefore, recognition of the damage and dysfunction of the cervical spine and biomechanical response to external stimuli is of paramount importance. Accordingly, finite element (FE) modeling can help researchers to access the internal stresses and strains in the bones, ligaments and soft tissues. The present study aimed to compare the biomechanical behavior of the cervical spine before and after trauma.

In this study, we developed a healthy model along with two different traumatic injuries of the cervical spine modeled by the FE method. The results of the models were compared under static loading. 

We estimated and evaluated three parameters of intervertebral rotation, facet joint force and intra-disc pressure by considering follower load. The results of the mentioned parameters were evaluated in the two traumatic injury models and the healthy model in flexion, extension, side bending and axial rotation movements at all levels.

According to the results, trauma modeling caused changes in the biomechanical behavior of the model, including decreased range of motion in the traumatic injury models, reduced intra-disc pressure and increased facet joint force. This structural disruption in this complex system caused abnormal behavior in various movements. According to the results, the lack of improvement of the biomechanical behavior of the model would cause spinal instability and could increase the probability of injuries in different segments of the lower cervical spine in the long term.