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Comparative strengths and structural properties of the upper and lower cervical spine in flexion and extension.

Publication ,  Journal Article
Nightingale, RW; Winkelstein, BA; Knaub, KE; Richardson, WJ; Luck, JF; Myers, BS
Published in: J Biomech
June 2002

The purpose of this study is to test the hypothesis that the upper cervical spine is weaker than the lower cervical spine in pure flexion and extension bending, which may explain the propensity for upper cervical spine injuries in airbag deployments. An additional objective is to evaluate the relative strength and flexibility of the upper and lower cervical spine in an effort to better understand injury mechanisms, and to provide quantitative data on bending responses and failure modes. Pure moment flexibility and failure testing was conducted on 52 female spinal segments in a pure-moment test frame. The average moment at failure for the O-C2 segments was 23.7+/-3.4Nm for flexion and 43.3+/-9.3Nm for extension. The ligamentous upper cervical spine was significantly stronger in extension than in flexion (p=0.001). The upper cervical spine was significantly stronger than the lower cervical spine in extension. The relatively high strength of the upper cervical spine in tension and in extension is paradoxical given the large number of upper cervical spine injuries in out-of-position airbag deployments. This discrepancy is most likely due to load sharing by the active musculature.

Duke Scholars

Published In

J Biomech

DOI

ISSN

0021-9290

Publication Date

June 2002

Volume

35

Issue

6

Start / End Page

725 / 732

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Weight-Bearing
  • Torque
  • Tensile Strength
  • Stress, Mechanical
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Spinal Injuries
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Rotation
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Range of Motion, Articular
 

Citation

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ICMJE
MLA
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Nightingale, R. W., Winkelstein, B. A., Knaub, K. E., Richardson, W. J., Luck, J. F., & Myers, B. S. (2002). Comparative strengths and structural properties of the upper and lower cervical spine in flexion and extension. J Biomech, 35(6), 725–732. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0021-9290(02)00037-4
Nightingale, Roger W., Beth A. Winkelstein, Kurt E. Knaub, William J. Richardson, Jason F. Luck, and Barry S. Myers. “Comparative strengths and structural properties of the upper and lower cervical spine in flexion and extension.J Biomech 35, no. 6 (June 2002): 725–32. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0021-9290(02)00037-4.
Nightingale RW, Winkelstein BA, Knaub KE, Richardson WJ, Luck JF, Myers BS. Comparative strengths and structural properties of the upper and lower cervical spine in flexion and extension. J Biomech. 2002 Jun;35(6):725–32.
Nightingale, Roger W., et al. “Comparative strengths and structural properties of the upper and lower cervical spine in flexion and extension.J Biomech, vol. 35, no. 6, June 2002, pp. 725–32. Pubmed, doi:10.1016/s0021-9290(02)00037-4.
Nightingale RW, Winkelstein BA, Knaub KE, Richardson WJ, Luck JF, Myers BS. Comparative strengths and structural properties of the upper and lower cervical spine in flexion and extension. J Biomech. 2002 Jun;35(6):725–732.
Journal cover image

Published In

J Biomech

DOI

ISSN

0021-9290

Publication Date

June 2002

Volume

35

Issue

6

Start / End Page

725 / 732

Location

United States

Related Subject Headings

  • Weight-Bearing
  • Torque
  • Tensile Strength
  • Stress, Mechanical
  • Statistics as Topic
  • Spinal Injuries
  • Sensitivity and Specificity
  • Rotation
  • Reproducibility of Results
  • Range of Motion, Articular