Lumbar mobility in asymptomatic individuals

A radiological study of angulatory and translational lumbar mobility and of lumbar scoliosis was performed on 56 persons aged 35-54 years who had no history of back pain. The measurements of mobility were based on extension-flexion views; the assessment of scoliosis was done using radiographs taken in the standing position. The results indicated that the largest range of angulatory motion occurred in the L5-S1 segment (mean, 17.3 degrees for women and 16.4 degrees for men). Five-millimeter translational motion was so common in the L3-L4 and L4-L5 segments, as was 4-mm in the L5-S1 segments, that these values cannot be considered with certainty as pathological. Ten subjects (18%) showed scoliosis of > or = 10 degrees. Although based on a small series, these results are a step toward a more objective and careful interpretation of extension-flexion and functional radiographs of low-back pain patients.