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Updated: May 17, 2026

A Novel Vertebral Stabilization Method for Producing Contusive Spinal Cord Injury
Published on: January 5, 2015
Anatomy and biomechanics of the spinal column and cord
Vincent J Miele1, Manohar M Panjabi, Edward C Benzel
1Department of Neurosurgery, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland, OH, USA.
Abstract:
The field of biomechanics combines the disciplines of biology and engineering, attempting to quantitatively describe the complicated properties of biological materials. These properties depend not only upon the inherent attributes of its constituents but also upon how the constituents are arranged relative to each other. Its importance in understanding spinal column and spinal cord pathology cannot be overemphasized. This chapter is a primer on the application of biomechanical principles to the normal and pathological spine. The basic concepts of biomechanics will first be reviewed followed by a review of the structural anatomy of the osteoligamentous spinal column and the biomechanics of injury. Relevant spinal cord anatomy will then be addressed as well as current biomechanical theories of spinal cord injury.
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