Advances in the measurement and interpretation of intervertebral motion in the lumbar spine.

Abstract

Background: Intervertebral motion is a fundamental aspect of spinal biomechanics, crucial for understanding lumbar spine function, pain mechanisms and surgical out-comes. Various methods exist for measuring and interpreting it, each with its own ad-vantages, limitations and specific applications. However, a comprehensive and standard taxonomy of study types for the measurement and interpretation of in vivo interverte-bral motion in the lumbar spine is lacking. Objectives: This review aimed to systemati-cally identify, characterize and categorize the diverse study types deposited in the lit-erature. Eligibility criteria: Only studies in English and of lumbar spine intervertebral motion in living subjects were considered and only those that employed objective measurement of motion sequences were included. Sources of evidence: A comprehen-sive literature search was performed in PubMed, CINAHL and SCOPUS for articles published between January 2000 and October 2025. Charting methods: After removal of duplicates, all studies were subjected to Title and abstract screening, followed by Full-text screening of potentially eligible studies. Data selected were charted into tables under the headings: Author, year, country, purpose, technology, participants, meas-urement, interpretation, radiation dosage and significance of findings. Results: For-ty-nine studies were abstracted and are described under 11 study types. These formed a taxonomy constituting the following 6 categories: Normal biomechanical mechanisms, Pathological and injury mechanisms, Direct kinematic measurement, Spinal stabiliza-tion, Dynamic radiography and Clinical markers. The resulting taxonomy will serve as a resource for researchers, clinicians and policymakers by facilitating a more coherent understanding of the field and promoting standardization in research design and re-porting.