Automated radiographic metrics for diagnosing lumbar spine instability: a cross-sectional observational study.

ABSTRACT:

Background

The concept of spinal instability has been the subject of research since the 1940s and is commonly used in clinical practice to decide on patient treatment. This is despite the lack of an adequately validated diagnostic test for instability. Our goal is to describe automated tests to detect segmental translational and vertical instabilities that can be obtained from lumbar flexion-extension radiographs. We also assess the prevalence of these instabilities in different patient populations.

Methods

Using fully automated methods: (I) flexion-extension studies of asymptomatic volunteers were analyzed to understand the performance of instability metrics in that population; (II) 7,621 lumbar spine flexion-extension from multiple clinical studies were analyzed to documen

SUBMITTER: Hipp JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11994510 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature