Subluxation: dogma or science?

Subluxation syndrome is a legitimate, potentially testable, theoretical construct for which there is little experimental evidence. Acceptable as hypothesis, the widespread assertion of the clinical meaningfulness of this notion brings ridicule from the scientific and health care communities and confusion within the chiropractic profession. We believe that an evidence-orientation among chiropractors requires that we distinguish between subluxation dogma vs.

Evaluation of transforaminal ligaments by magnetic resonance imaging.

Objectives: Three-part study to (1) identify and describe transforaminal ligaments (TFLs), (2) determine the best low-field-strength magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) technique for TFLs, and (3) determine the ability of low-field-strength MRI to obtain images of TFLs.

Design: Part I-descriptive anatomic study; part II-descriptive MRI study; part III-blinded comparison of diagnostic test against gold standard (MRI vs anatomic dissection).

Setting: Chiropractic college gross anatomy laboratory and MRI facilities.