[Development research of in vivo kinematics in lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis].

OBJECTIVE

To review the researches of in vivo kinematics in lumbar degenerative spondylolisthesis (DS).

METHODS

Related literature concerning the in vivo kinematics in patients with lumbar DS was extensively reviewed and comprehensively analyzed in 4 terms of the instability of lumbar DS, vertebral motion pattern, the morphological changes of spinal canal, and intraoperative biomechanical measurement.

RESULTS

Whether there is lumbar segmental instability in lumbar DS patients is still controversial, which should be based on degenerative stage of lumbar spine and grade of slip. The hypomobility of the lumbar spinous processes and the facet joint is seen in DS. The diameter, cross-sectional area, and volume of spinal canal in lumbar DS patients are significantly smaller than those of the normal control. Because of its invasive procedure and medical ethics, the use of the intraoperative measurement device is limited. These reported researches of in vivo kinematics in DS are almost on the sagittal plane. However, few data have been reported on the 6-degree-of-freedom (6DOF) kinematics of the diseased levels under physiological loading conditions.

CONCLUSION

The 6DOF kinematics data can accurately reflect the segmental motion characteristics in lumbar DS patients, recent studies have been reported, further studies are still needed.