Background: The aim of this study was to investigate the differences in the involvement of whole-body compensatory alignment in different conditions of spinopelvic sagittal balance (compensated/decompensated).
Methods: We enrolled 330 individuals who underwent medical checkups and divided them according to sagittal vertical axis (SVA): for the compensated group, this was <4 cm, (group C) and for the decompensated group, it was ≥4 cm, (group D). The correlation between the lack of ideal lumbar lordosis (iLL), which was calculated by using the Schwab formula, and the compensatory radiographic parameters in each group was analyzed. The threshold value of knee flexion (KF) angle, which indicated spinopelvic sagittal imbalance (SVA ≥ 4), was determined by a ROC-curve analysis.
Results: The correlation analysis of the lack of iLL and each compensatory parameter showed a strong correlation for pelvic tilt (PT) (r = -0.723), and a weak correlation for thoracic kyphosis (TK) (r = 275) in Group C. In Group D, the correlations were strong for PT (r = -0.796), and moderate for TK (r = 0.462) and KF (r = -0.415). The optimal cutoff value for the KF angle was determined to be 8.4 degrees (sensitivity 89%, specificity 46%).
Conclusions: The present study shows differences between compensated/decompensated spinopelvic sagittal balance in the correlation strength between lack of iLL and whole-body compensatory parameters.
Keywords: age-related change; compensation parameter; knee flexion; sagittal alignment; spinopelvic sagittal balance.