Intervertebral Disc Mechanics: A Review

Orthopaedic services: Waiting time for outpatient appointments and inpatient treatment (Duthie Report). Dd 718943 C 8 4/81. London: HMSO, 1981.

Morbidity statistics from general practice (1971–2). HMSO Publication No. 36. London: HMSO, 1979.

Office of Population Censuses and Surveys. Studies on medical and population subjects No. 26. London: HMSO, 1974.

Department of Health and Social Security: Sickness and/or Invalidity Benefit. Spells of certified incapacity at some time in the period 5 April 1982 - 2 April 1983 and days of certified incapacity analysed by cause of incapacity. Reproduced by kind permission of DHSS Headquarters SR8B, Crown Copyright 1985.

Rowe ML. Low back pain in industry - a position paper. J Occup Med 1969; 11: 161–9.

Leavitt SS Johnston TL Bayer RD. The process of recovery: Pattern of industrial back injury Part I. Costs and other quantitative measures of effort. Ind Med Surg 1971; 40(8):7–15.

Kelsey JL White AA. Epidemiology and impact of low back pain. Spine 1980; 5: 133–42.

Royal College of Nursing. Back injuries in nurses. Lancet 1980; i: 325.

Woessner JF Jr . Enzymatic mechanisms for the degradation of connective tissue matrix. In: White AA III Gordon SL , eds, Symposium on idiopathic low back pain of the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons. St Louis: C V Mosby, 1982:392–400.

Gertzbein SD Tile M Gross A Autoimmunity in degenerative disc disease of the lumbar spine. Orthop Clin North Am 1975; 6: 67–73.

Bisla RS Marchisello PJ Lockshin MD Auto-immunological basis of disc degeneration. Clin Orthop 1976; 121: 205–11.

Yang KH King AI. Mechanism of facet load transmission as a hypothesis for low back pain. Spine 1984; 9: 557–65.

Galante JO. Tensile properties of human lumbar annulus fibrosus. Acta Orthop Scand (Suppl) 1967; 100: 1–91.

Nachemson A Schultz AB Berkson MH. Mechanical properties of human lumbar spine motion segments. Influence of age, sex, disc level and degeneration. Spine 1979; 4: 1–8.

Hirsch C Nachemson A. New observations on mechanical behaviour of lumbar discs. Acta Orthop Scand 1954; 23: 254–83.

Gower WE Pedrini V. Age-related variations in proteinpolysaccharides from human nucleus pulposus, annulus fibrosus, and costal cartilage. J Bone Joint Surg (Am) 1969; 51A: 1154–62.

Stockwell RA. Changes in the acid glycosaminoglycan content of the matrix of ageing human articular cartilage. Ann Rheum Dis 1970; 29: 509–15.

Greenwald RA Moy WW Seibold J. Functional properties of cartilage proteoglycans. Semin Arthritis Rheum 1978; 8: 58–37.

Freeman MAR Meachim G. Ageing and degeneration. In: Freeman MAR , ed, Adult articular cartilage, 2nd ed. London: Pitman, 1979:487–543.

Holm S Maroudas A Urban JP Nutrition of the intervertebral disc: Solute transport and metabolism. Connect Tissue Res 1981; 8: 101–19.

Urban JPG Holm S Maroudas A Nutrition of the intervertebral disk. Clin Orthop 1977; 129: 101–14.

Szirmai JA. Structure of the intervertebral disc. In: Balazs EA , ed. Chemistry and molecular biology of the intercellular matrix, vol 3. New York: Academic Press, 1970:1279.

Naylor A. Factors in the development of the spinal stenosis syndrome. J Bone Joint Surg (Br) 1979; 61B: 306–9.

Posner I White AA Edwards WT A biomechanical analysis of the clinical stability of the lumbar and lumbosacral spine. Spine 1982; 7: 374–89.

Pearcy MJ Tibrewal SB. Axial rotation and lateral bending in the normal lumbar spine measured by three-dimensional radiography. Spine 1984; 6: 582–7.

Gregersen GG Lucas DB. An in vivo study of axial rotation of the human thoracolumbar spine. J. Bone Joint Surg (Am) 1967; 49A: 247–62.

Farfan HF Sullivan JDK . The relationship of facet orientation to intervertebral disc failure. Can J Surg 1967; 10: 179–85.

Farfan HF Huberdeau RM Dubow HI. Lumbar intervertebral disc degeneration: The influence of geometrical features on the pattern of disc degeneration: A post mortem study. J Bone Joint Surg (Am) 1972; 54A: 492–510.

Lucas DB Bresley B. Stability of the ligamentous spine (Biomechanics lab report 40). San Francisco: University of California, 1961.

Armstrong JR. Lumbar disc lesions, 3rd ed. Edinburgh: Livingstone, 1965.

Perey O. Fracture of the vertebral end plates in the lumbar spine: An experimental biomechanical investigation. Acta Orthop Scand (Suppl) 1957; 25: 65–8.

Evans FG Lissner HR. Biomechanical studies on the lumbar spine and pelvis. J Bone Joint Surg (Am) 1959; 41A: 278–90.

Jayson MI Herbert CM Barks JS. Intervertebral discs: Nuclear morphology and bursting pressures. Ann Rheum Dis 1973; 32: 308–15.

Schmorl G. Die Pathologische Anatomie der Wirbersaule. Verh Dtsch Orthop Ges 1926; 21: 3–41.

Virgin WJ. Experimental investigations into the physical properties of the intervertebral disc. J Bone Joint Surg (Br) 1951; 33B: 607–11.

Nachemson A. Lumbar intradiscal pressure. Acta Orthop Scand (Suppl) 1960; 43: 1–104.

Nachemson A Morris JM. In vivo measurements of intradiscal pressure. Discometry, a method for the determination of pressure in the lower lumbar discs. J. Bone Joint Surg (Am) 1964; 46A: 1077–92.

Bartelink DL. The role of abdominal pressure in relieving the pressure on the lumbar intervertebral discs. J Bone Joint Surg (Br) 1957; 39B: 718–25.

Morris JM Lucas DB Bresler B. Role of the trunk in stability of the spine. J Bone Joint Surg (Am) 1961; 43A: 327–51.

Eie N. Load capacity of the low back. J Oslo City Hosp 1966; 16: 73.

Bogduk N MacIntosh J. The applied anatomy of the thoracolumbar fascia. Spine 1984; 9: 164–70.

Andersson GB Örtengran R Nachemson A. Intradiscal pressure, intra abdominal pressure and myoelectric back muscle activity related to posture and loading. Clin Orthop 1977; 129: 156–64.

Nachemson A Elfstrom G. Intravital dynamic pressure measurements in lumbar discs. A study of common movements, manoeuvres, and exercises. Scand J Rehabil Med (Suppl 1) 1970; 2: 1–40.

Hirsch C Schajowicz F. Studies on structural changes in the lumbar annulus fibrosus. Acta Orthop Scand 1953; 22: 184–231.

Yoshizawa H O'Brien JP Smith WT The neuropathology of intervertebral discs removed for low back pain. J Pathol 1980; 132: 95–104.

Adams MA Hutton WC. The effect of fatigue on the lumbar intervertebral discs. J Bone Joint Surg (Br) 1983; 65B: 199–203.

Urban JP Holm S Maroudas A. Diffusion of small solutes into the intervertebral disc: An in vivo study. Biorheology 1978; 15: 203–21.

Adams MA Hutton WC Scott JRR . The resistance to flexion of the lumbar intervertebral joint. Spine 1980; 3: 245–53.

Adams MA Hutton WC. Prolapsed intervertebral disc. A hyperflexion injury. Spine 1982; 7: 184–91.

Newman PH. Sprung back. J Bone Joint Surg (Br) 1952; 34B: 30–7.