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Cervical spine injuries and flexibilities following axial impact with lateral eccentricity

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Abstract

Purpose

Determine the effects of dynamic injurious axial compression applied at various lateral eccentricities (lateral distance to the centre of the spine) on mechanical flexibilities and structural injury patterns of the cervical spine.

Methods

13 three-vertebra human cadaver cervical spine specimens (6 C3–5, 3 C4–6, 2 C5–7, 2 C6–T1) were subjected to pure moment flexibility tests (±1.5 Nm) before and after impact trauma was applied in two groups: low and high lateral eccentricity (1 and 150 % of the lateral diameter of the vertebral body, respectively). Relative range of motion (ROM) and relative neutral zone (NZ) were calculated as the ratio of post and pre-trauma values. Injuries were diagnosed by a spine surgeon and scored. Classification functions were developed using discriminant analysis.

Results

Low and high eccentric loading resulted in primarily bony fractures and soft tissue injuries, respectively. Axial impacts with high lateral eccentricities resulted in greater spinal motion in lateral bending [median relative ROM 3.5 (interquartile range, IQR 2.3) vs. 1.4 (IQR 0.5) and median relative NZ 4.7 (IQR 3.7) vs. 2.3 (IQR 1.1)] and in axial rotation [median relative ROM 5.3 (IQR 13.7) vs. 1.3 (IQR 0.5), p < 0.05 for all comparisons] than those that resulted from low eccentricity impacts. The developed classification functions had 92 % classification accuracy.

Conclusions

Dynamic axial compression loading of the cervical spine with high lateral eccentricities produced primarily soft tissue injuries resulting in more post-injury spinal flexibility in lateral bending and axial rotation than that associated with the bony fractures resulting from low eccentricity impacts.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful for the assistance of Ms. Angela Melnyk, M.A.Sc. in helping to carry out the experiments and for the financial support from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council.

Conflict of interest

None.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Orthopaedic and Injury Biomechanics Group, Departments of Mechanical Engineering and Orthopaedics, University of British Columbia, 6250 Applied Science Lane, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    C. Van Toen, T. R. Oxland & Peter A. Cripton

  2. Combined Neurosurgical and Orthopaedic Spine Program, Department of Orthopaedics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    J. Street

  3. International Collaboration on Repair Discoveries (ICORD), University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada

    C. Van Toen, J. Street, T. R. Oxland & Peter A. Cripton

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  1. C. Van Toen
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  2. J. Street
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  4. Peter A. Cripton
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Correspondence to Peter A. Cripton.

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Van Toen, C., Street, J., Oxland, T.R. et al. Cervical spine injuries and flexibilities following axial impact with lateral eccentricity. Eur Spine J 24, 136–147 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-014-3612-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00586-014-3612-4

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