P51. Associations in the sagittal plane: no evidence that foot radiographs predict sagittal alignment or degeneration of the spine

Abstract

BACKGROUND CONTEXT The interaction between hip pathology and spinopelvic alignment is a current subject of interest in orthopedics with a number of recently performed studies. However, little is known regarding the interaction between foot & ankle (FA anteroposterior (AP), lateral, and mortise of ankle; AP, lateral, and oblique of foot. Patients were excluded from analysis if there was radiographic evidence of previous surgical instrumentation in the spine, ankle or foot. OUTCOME MEASURES Sagittal parameters were measured on lateral of lumbar spine radiographic views and foot and ankle parameters were analyzed on anteroposterior (AP), lateral, and mortise of ankle as well as AP, lateral, and oblique of foot. METHODS Bonferroni correction was performed to account multiple statistical analyses, which resulted in the level of significance set to p RESULTS A total of 55 patients met inclusion criteria. There were no associations found between F&A pathology and spinopelvic alignment/degeneration (p>0.001 for each). CONCLUSIONS A common patient concern is that a foot condition may be contributing to low back pain through altered gait and postural dynamics. With the numbers available, we were unable to demonstrate statistical associations between F&A radiographic findings and spinopelvic alignment or degeneration. Orthopaedic surgeons can address patients’ concerns about the relationship between their F&A and lumbar spine symptoms by citing that there is a lack of known association between radiographic findings used to evaluate these two regions of the body. FDA DEVICE/DRUG STATUS This abstract does not discuss or include any applicable devices or drugs.