Reliability of ultrasound to measure the distance between lumbar interspinous processes

Ryosuke Tozawa; Munenori Katoh; Tsubasa Kawasaki; Hidefumi Aramaki; Tsuneo Kumamoto; Osamu Fujinawa

doi:10.1016/j.medengphy.2021.103740

Reliability of ultrasound to measure the distance between lumbar interspinous processes

Med Eng Phys. 2022 Jan:99:103740. doi: 10.1016/j.medengphy.2021.103740. Epub 2021 Dec 11.

Authors

Ryosuke Tozawa¹, Munenori Katoh², Tsubasa Kawasaki³, Hidefumi Aramaki², Tsuneo Kumamoto⁴, Osamu Fujinawa⁵

Affiliations

¹ Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Science, Ryotokuji University, 5-8-1 Akemi, Urayasu, Chiba, 279-8567, Japan; Department of Physical Therapy, Kasai Clinic of Orthopedic and Internal Medicine, 3-22-9 Minamikasai, Edogawaku, Tokyo, 134-0085, Japan. Electronic address: tozawa@ryotokuji-u.ac.jp.
² Department of Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Science, Ryotokuji University, 5-8-1 Akemi, Urayasu, Chiba, 279-8567, Japan.
³ Department of Physical Therapy, School of Health Sciences, Tokyo International University, 1-13-1 Matobakita, Kawagoe, Saitama, 350-1197, Japan.
⁴ Department of Physical Therapy, Hokkaido Chitose College of Rehabilitation, 2-10 Satomi, Chitose, Hokkaido, 066-0055, Japan.
⁵ Department of Rehabilitation Physical Therapy, Faculty of Health Science, Fukui Health Science University, 55-13-1 Egamicho, Fukui, Fukui, 910-3190, Japan.

PMID: 35058022
DOI: 10.1016/j.medengphy.2021.103740

Abstract

Objectives: This study aimed to determine the reliability of ultrasound to measure the distance between interspinous processes of the lumbar spine at the segmental level (i.e., L1-L2, L2-L3, L3-L4, and L4-L5).

Methods: Ten men with no history of orthopedic diseases or dysfunctions were included in this study. In total, 720 images of the lumbar spines of participants were analyzed (10 participants, 4 segments, 3 trials, 3 positions, 2 examiners). With participants in three different positions, images of each segment specifically focused on the distance between lumbar interspinous processes. Bland-Altman analysis (BAA) was used to determine intra- and inter-rater reliability.

Results: Intra-rater intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) values (1, 1) were found to range from 0.840 to 0.988, whereas inter-rater ICC values (2, 1) ranged from 0.605 to 0.876. BAA results confirmed a fixed bias regarding the L4-L5 of the lumbar spine segment in the flexion position.

Conclusions: Inter-rater reliability decreased throughout this study; however, results showed that using ultrasound to measure the distance between lumbar segmental interspinous processes could be applied in clinical settings to evaluate lumbar segmental mobility.

Keywords: Lumbar vertebrae; Lumbosacral region; Position; Reliability; Ultrasound imaging.

MeSH terms

Humans
Lumbar Vertebrae* / diagnostic imaging
Male
Range of Motion, Articular
Reproducibility of Results
Ultrasonography