Clinical application of lumbar hyperextension MRI in the diagnosis of lumbar spinal stenosis

Abstract

To evaluate the diagnostic value of lumbar hyperextension MRI, through studying the changes of spinal stenosis degree in lumbar hyperextension position. From September 2018 to February 2020, 26 patients with lumbar spinal stenosis did lumbar spine neutral and hyperextension MRI scans. There were 11 males and 15 females, aged from 43 to 85 (64.00±10.37) years. As 6 patients induced and aggravated the symptoms of low back and leg pain in the hyperextension position, qualified MRI data could not be collected. Because of that, a total of 20 patients' qualified data were collected. Mimics Medical 21.0 medical image processing software was used to measure the relevant diagnostic parameters of lumbar spinal stenosis, analyze the change rules statistically, and evaluate the degree of lumbar spinal stenosis and changes in nerve compression in the hyperextension position. The sagittal diameter and cross sectional area of the lumbar spinal bony canal do not change significantly with the body position;the sagittal diameter of the dural sac, the sagittal diameter of the dural sac, and the disc yellow space all have different degrees of decline in the hyperextension position. For the imaging diagnosis of lumbar spinal stenosis, lumbar spine hyperextension position MRI can be a good complement for the routine neutral MRI examination, and it is more sensitive to the clinical diagnosis of lumbar spinal stenosis.