The Spine Complex Flashcards
What are the functions of the spinal column?
Base of support, link between upper and lower extremities, and protects the spinal cord.
What are the five regions of the vertebral column?
Cervical, thoracic, lumbar, sacral, and coccygeal
How many bones are in the vertebral column? disks?
33; 23
What makes a spine healthy?
muscle strength, flexibility, posture, body weight, adaptation for tasks, and not pushing the limits of genetic makeup.
How many distinct curves are in an adult spine?
4
How is the spine shaped prior to birth?
C-shaped
What is the key function of spine curvature?
shock absorption
What components make spinal movement possible?
intervertebral joints and facet joints
Intervertebral discs make up how much of the height of the column?
20-30%
What is the thickness of the intervertberal discs in the cervical region? thoracic? lumbar?
3;5;9mm
What does the ratio between vertebral body height and disc height dictate?
vertebra mobility
Where is the highest ratio between the vertebral body height and the disk height? the lowest? and what do these ratios do?
cervical-allows for motion
thoracic-limits motion
Where is the nucleus pulposus in a disc?
in the center, slightly posterior in lumbar
What is the nucleus pulposus?
Gelatinous mass rich in water binding PG (proteoglycan) AKA (glycoaminoglycos) GAG-protein molecule.
What in the PG molevule gives the disc a hydrophyllic capacity?
Chondrotin-4 sulfate
What decreases the hydration of the disc?
age and compressive loading
How much of the disc is water?
80-90%
What does water do in a disc?
acts as a hydrostatic unit allowing for uniform distribution of pressure throughout the disc.
True or False discs are vascular?
False
How do discs get nutrition?
diffusion through end-plate
What is the structure of the annulus fibrosis?
Collagen arranged in sheets called lamellae
How are the lamellae in the annulus fibrosis arranged?
In concentric rings
What does the annulus fibrosis do?
Enclose the nucleus, control tensile loading form shear motions and disc forces
Where is the annulus fibrosis the thickest?
anteriorly
Where does the outermost 1/3 of the annulus fibrosis connect?
the vertebral body via sharpey’s fibers
Where does the outer 2/3 of the annulus fibrosis connect?
The end plate
Where are the highest incidences of disc herniation?
C5-6; T6-7; L4-5; L5-S1
What are the important longitudinal ligaments in the spine?
Supraspinous, anterior longitudinal, posterior longitudinal, ligamentum flavum
What do the pedicles and lamina form?
the neural arch
Where are the facet joints located?
between the superior and inferior articulating surfaces
What do the facet joints do?
guide intervertebral motion through their orientation in the transverse and frontal planes
What does the facet joint capsule do?
limit motions, resist flexion, undertake tensile loading, resist lumbar rotation
Where is the facet joint capsule the strongest?
In the thoracocolumbar and cervicothoracic regions where curvatures change.
What is the intervertebral foramina?
exit for nerve root
What dictates the size of the intervertbral foramina?
disc heights and pedicle shape
