A morphometric study of the lumbar spinous process in the Chinese population

Abstract

Our goal was to analyze the anatomical parameters of the lumbar spine spinous process for an interspinous stabilization device designed for the Chinese population and to offer an anatomical basis for its clinical application. The posterior lumbar spines (T12-S1) of 52 adult cadavers were used for measuring the following: distance between two adjacent spinous processes (DB), distance across two adjacent spinous processes (DA), thickness of the central spinous processes (TC), thickness of the superior margin of the spinous processes (TS), thickness of the inferior margin of the spinous processes (TI), and height of the spinous processes (H). Variance and correlation analyses were conducted for these data, and the data met the normal distribution and homogeneity of variance. DB decreased gradually from L1-2 to L5-S1. DA increased from T12-L1 to L2-3 and then decreased from L2-3 to L4-5. The largest H in males was noted at L3 (25.45±5.96 mm), whereas for females the largest H was noted at L4 (18.71±4.50 mm). Usually, TS of the adjacent spinous process was lower than TI. Based on the anatomical parameters of the lumbar spinous processes obtained in this study, an “H”-shaped coronal plane (posterior view) was proposed as an interspinous stabilization device for the Chinese population. This study reports morphometric data of the lumbar spinous processes in the Chinese population, which provides an anatomical basis for future clinical applications.

A morphometric study of the thoracolumbar spine spinous process and lamina space in the Chinese

“…At present, lumbar spine process related indicators have been reported [14][15][16], and there are a few reports on the measurement of thoracic spinous processes [17][18][19][20][21].…”

“…There are also some studies that report measurements of thoracic and lumbar spine-related indicators separately, which are not comprehensive enough. In the morphology of lumbar spine processes studied by B. Cai et al [14], only the distance, height, thickness of the upper, middle and lower borders of the lumbar spine were studied. Bo Ran et al [15] performed lumbar spine morphology in Chinese population by three-dimensional CT reconstruction.…”

“…The tip distance(TD), center distance(CD) and root distance(RD) between the adjacent spinous processes were measured respectively (Figure 2 and Figure 3). The TD in this article has the same meaning as DB(distance between the two adjacent spinous processes) in other articles [14,15].…”

“…Recently, the anatomical parameters of lumbar spine process have been well described [14][15][16], and previously studies have provided information regarding thoracic spinous processes [17][18][19][20][21]. There are only few reports on the measurement of lamina space.…”

Preventing Post Dural Puncture Headache after Intrathecal Drug Delivery System Implantation Through Preventive Fibrin Glue Application: A Retrospective Study

“…The canula crosses the length of the spinous process (interspinous ligament and ligamentum flavum) to the depth of the epidural space as measured by the length of the needle. In a recent publication, the length of the spinous process was on average 25.6 ± 5.96 mm (27). Therefore the 30-mm-long cannula is appropriate.…”