Influence of lumbar spine rhythms and intra-abdominal pressure on spinal loads and trunk muscle forces during upper body inclination.

Improved knowledge on spinal loads and trunk muscle forces may clarify the mechanical causes of various spinal diseases and has the potential to improve the current treatment options. Using an inverse dynamic musculoskeletal model, this sensitivity analysis was aimed to investigate the influence of lumbar spine rhythms and intra-abdominal pressure on the compressive and shear forces in L4-L5 disc and the trunk muscle forces during upper body inclination. Based on in vivo data, three different spine rhythms (SRs) were used along with alternative settings (with/without) of intra-abdominal pressure (IAP). Compressive and shear forces in L4-L5 disc as well as trunk muscle forces were predicted by inverse static simulations from standing upright to 55° of intermediate trunk inclination. Alternate model settings of intra-abdominal pressure and different spine rhythms resulted in significant variation of compression (763 N) and shear forces (195 N) in the L4-L5 disc and in global (454 N) and local (156 N) trunk muscle forces at maximum flexed position. During upper body inclination, the compression forces at L4-L5 disc were mostly released by IAP and increased for larger intervertebral rotation in a lumbar spine rhythm. This study demonstrated that with various possible assumptions of lumbar spine rhythm and intra-abdominal pressure, variation in predicted loads and muscles forces increase with larger flexion. It is therefore, essential to adapt these model parameters for accurate prediction of spinal loads and trunk muscle forces.