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Flat Lumbar Lordosis Spinal Alignment is Over Represented in Young Individuals with Symptomatic Lumbar Disc Herniation

Abstract

Joel Mattias Beck, Helena Brisby, Adad Baranto, Olof Westin

Background: The lumbar spine and pelvis can be aligned in a variety of different ways. It has been demonstrated that certain lumbar morphological characteristics can affect the likelihood of developing speci ic illnesses, such as Lumbar Disc Herniation (LDH) or spondylolysis. This study's main objective was to look at the sagittal pro iles of young individuals having lumbar disc herniation surgery. Checking if a straightforward discectomy altered the sagittal features following surgery was a secondary objective.

Methods: The study comprised 16 young patients with lumbar disc herniation surgery (mean age 18.3 and 3.2 SD). Erect sagittal radiographs of the entire spine were taken prior to surgery. According to Roussouly, two experienced spinal surgeons classi ied the sagittal features. Additionally, a whole spine erect radiograph was taken three months following surgery and prospective changes in sagittal spinopelvic pro iles were assessed.

Results: The patients in the study exhibited a strong low lumbar lordosis dominance, with more than 75% of the patients having Roussouly sagittal pro iles type 1 and type 2. Examining the erect radiographs revealed that the post-operative sagittal pro ile had undergone only small, insigni icant modi ications.

Conclusion: In conclusion, this study shows that, when young patients with LDH are compared to a normal population cohort, the sagittal spinal alignment, as de ined by Roussouly, is skewed and does not appear to be changed or altered by the disc herniation condition or the surgical intervention in and of itself. The Roussouly type 1 or 2 spinal sagittal pro ile was present in the vast majority of the young LDH patients who presented for surgery, suggesting that this may be thought of as a separate risk factor for the development of LDH in this cohort.