Kinematics of the equine thoracolumbar spine.

At least three types of movement take place in the joint complexes of the equine thoracolumbar spine: dorsoventral flexion and extension, axial rotation and lateral bending. Using the standard right-handed Cartesian coordinate system, these movements may be defined as rotation about the x, y and z axes respectively. Except in cases of intervertebral fusion, all three types of movement occur in each joint complex of the equine back. The greatest amount of dorsoventral movement takes place at the lumbosacral and the first thoracic intervertebral joints. The greatest amount of axial rotation and lateral bending was measured in the mid-thoracolumbar spine at the level of the 11th or 12th thoracic intervertebral joints. The caudal thoracic and the lumbar spine is the least mobile region of the equine back. In the mid-thoracic spine, lateral bending was always accompanied by a "coupled" axial rotation. The presence of the rib cage stabilised the cranial thoracic vertebrae against axial rotation.