SynthesisEuropean spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society2015
Do in vivo kinematic studies provide insight into adjacent segment degeneration? A qualitative systematic literature review.
Synthesis in European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society, 2015. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 37 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
37 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 75 citations in OpenAlex.
- Impact of iatrogenic alterations on adjacent segment degeneration after lumbar fusion surgery: a systematic review.Journal of orthopaedic surgery and research · 2025Pooled it
- Reoperation of decompression alone or decompression plus fusion surgeries for degenerative lumbar diseases: a systematic review.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2019Pooled it
- Changes in Midrange and End Range Adjacent Segment Motion 3 Years After One- Or Two-Level Cervical Arthrodesis.JOR spine · 2026Article
- The Effect of Single Level and Multilevel Cervical Fusion on Adjacent Segment Motion: A Biomechanical Analysis.JOR spine · 2026Article
- Advances in the Measurement and Interpretation of Intervertebral Motion in the Lumbar Spine: A Scoping Review.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Subject-Specific Musculoskeletal Modeling: The Future of Predicting and Preventing Proximal Junctional Failure in Adult Spinal Deformity.JOR spine · 2025Article
- Can Wallis topping-off surgery reduce radiographic adjacent segment degeneration? a single-center study with at least 8 years of long-term follow-up.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2025Article
- The Relationship Between Postoperative Variation of Adjacent Segment Three-Dimensional Kinematics and Postoperative PI-LL in Patients With Degenerative Lumbar Scoliosis After Short Segment Fixation.Orthopaedic surgery · 2025Article
- Investigation of instrumentation lengthening in the thoracolumbar junction of the spine - an in vitro Biomechanical study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Article
- ROCK-dependent mechanotransduction of macroscale forces drives fibrosis in degenerative spinal disease.Nature biomedical engineering · 2025Article
- Impact of caudal segment bone fusion on rod load at the cranial segment in a two-level spinal interbody fusion construct- a biomechanical study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2025Article
- Combined Rigid-Flexible Multibody Analysis Reveals Reduced Pedicle Screw Loads in Short-Segment Fixation for Decompressed Lumbar Spine Stabilization.Annals of biomedical engineering · 2025Article
- Spinal instrumentation length affects adjacent segment range of motion and intradiscal pressure.Scientific reports · 2024Article
- Determining a relative total lumbar range of motion to alleviate adjacent segment degeneration after transforaminal lumbar interbody fusion: a finite element analysis.BMC musculoskeletal disorders · 2024Article
- Influence of Simulated State of Disc Degeneration and Axial Stiffness of Coupler in a Hybrid Performance Stabilisation System on the Biomechanics of a Spine Segment Model.Bioengineering (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- Biomechanics after spinal decompression and posterior instrumentation.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2023Article
- Cross-link augmentation enhances CFR-PEEK short fixation in lumbar metastasis stabilization.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2023Article
- Muscle-driven forward dynamic active hybrid model of the lumbosacral spine: combined FEM and multibody simulation.Frontiers in bioengineering and biotechnology · 2023Article
- Adjacent segments biomechanics following lumbar fusion surgery: a musculoskeletal finite element model study.European spine journal : official publication of the European Spine Society, the European Spinal Deformity Society, and the European Section of the Cervical Spine Research Society · 2022Article
- Lumbosacral transitional vertebrae alter the distribution of lumbar mobility-Preliminary results of a radiographic evaluation.PloS one · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
6 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
purposeWhile much evidence suggests that adjacent segment degeneration is merely a manifestation of the natural degenerative process unrelated to any spine fusion, a significant body of literature supports the notion that it is a process due in part to the altered biomechanics adjacent to fused spine segments. The purpose of this study was to review and critically analyze the published literature that investigated the in vivo kinematics of the adjacent segments and entire lumbar spine in patients receiving spinal fusion or motion-preserving devices.
methodsA systematic review of the PubMed database was conducted, initially identifying 697 studies of which 39 addressed the in vivo kinematics of the segments adjacent to spinal implants or non-instrumented fusion of the lumbar spine.
resultsTwenty-nine articles studied fusion, of which three reported a decrease in range of motion of the caudal adjacent segment post-fusion. Examining the rostral adjacent segment, twelve studies observed no change, nine studies found a significant increase, and three studies reported a significant decrease in sagittal plane range of motion. Of the six studies that analyzed motion for the entire lumbar spine as a unit, five studies showed a significant decrease and one study reported no change in global lumbar spine motion. Kinematics of the segment rostral to a total disc replacement was investigated in six studies: four found no change and the results for the other two showed dependence on treatment level. Fifteen studies of non-fusion posterior implants analyzed the motion of the adjacent segment with two studies noting an increase in motion at the rostral level.
conclusionsThere appears to be no overall kinematic changes at the rostral or caudal levels adjacent to a fusion, but some patients (~20-30%) develop excessive kinematic changes (i.e., instability) at the rostral adjacent level. The overall lumbar ROM after fusion appears to decrease after a spinal fusion.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.