Stability of paraspinal tissue compliance in normal subjects.

Objective: The following studies were performed in order to evaluate the stability of paraspinal tissue compliance measurements. Tissue compliance is a measure of the consistency or firmness of soft tissue and is determined by a hand-held tissue compliance meter.

Design: Descriptive and blinded time course intervention measurements.

Setting: All measurements were performed on subjects placed in the prone position on flat tables in a laboratory setting.

Participants: Forty asymptomatic volunteer subjects.

Intervention: Tissue compliance measurements of the T6 and L3 paraspinal regions.

Main Outcome Measure: Tissue compliance measurements recorded as millimeters of penetration of a metered probe.

Results: Data from this study indicate that paraspinal tissue compliance at the T6 and L3 regions does not change significantly over a 10-min interval, is not effected by the testing intervention and the number of abnormal left/right tissue compliance asymmetries is appropriate (5%) for a normal population of subjects.

Conclusions: These findings tend to support the utility of tissue compliance as a possible tool for the evaluation of paraspinal soft tissue.