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Biomechanical Role of Nucleotomy in Vibration Characteristics of Human Spine

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Abstract

Nucleotomy is a common surgical procedure for the treatment of lumbar diseases. It may accelerate degeneration in the operated disc and decreased segmental stability, and this has been widely concerned by scholars for many years. However, under whole-body vibration, nucleotomy how to affect the vibration characteristics of the lumbar spine and complications is urgent to know. A three-dimensional nonlinear osteoligamentous finite element model of the intact L1-sacrum lumbar spine with muscles was established, and the nucleus of the L4–L5 disc was removed in the nucleotomy model. The lower surface of the sacrum was fully constrained for all models. A 5 Hz, 40 N sinusoidal vertical load supplemented with a 400 N preload was applied at L1 to simulate the vertical vibration of the human body. The results showed that nucleotomy increased the dynamic responses of the discs such as stress in the annulus ground substance and intradiscal pressure both in the maximum value and vibration amplitude. The maximum endplate stresses and corresponding vibration amplitudes of the denucleated L4–L5 level increased because of nucleotomy. Nucleotomy decreased the maximum response values of disc height and segmental lordosis but increased the corresponding amplitudes. Therefore, these findings imply that nucleotomy may increase the risk of developing complications such as disc degeneration, adjacent segment disease, endplate degeneration, lumbar instability, nerve root compress, isthmic spondylolisthesis, and lumbar disc herniation under whole-body vibration. This study reveals insights into the effect of the nucleotomy on the vibration characteristics of the lumbar spine and provides new information toward the relationship between nucleotomy and complications.

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Acknowledgements

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (51875096).

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  1. School of Mechanical Engineering and Automation, Northeastern University, Shenyang, 110819, China

    Qing-Dong Wang & Li-Xin Guo

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Wang, QD., Guo, LX. Biomechanical Role of Nucleotomy in Vibration Characteristics of Human Spine. Int. J. Precis. Eng. Manuf. 22, 1323–1334 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12541-021-00519-9

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