Stabilization of the lumbar spine by spinal muscle forces producing compressive follower loads: 3-dimensional computational study.

Axial compressive loads whose direction changes along the spinal curvature (so called compressive follower loads (CFLs)) was postulated as a normal physiological load in the lumbar spine in the literature. Computational analyses were conducted in this study using finite element and optimization models of the spinal system incorporating 244 fascicles of back muscles. It was feasible to find optimum solutions for spinal muscle forces generating CFLs in the lumbar spine in 3-D postures of neutral standing, flexion 40°, extension 10°, axial rotation 10°, or lateral bending 30°. FE analyses demonstrated that the lumbar spine can be in a stable condition not under all CFL generating muscle forces but under those producing CFLs along a curve parallel to the spinal curvature located in the vicinity of the base spinal curve constructed by connecting the geometrical centers of the vertebral bodies. It was also possible to estimate the stable range of the relative location of such CFL curve to the base spinal curve. These results suggest that the lumbar spine in various 3-D postures can be stabilized by spinal muscles that generate CFLs in the spine, which at least in part supports the hypothesis of CFLs as a physiological load in the lumbar spine. © 2018 Orthopaedic Research Society. Published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Orthop Res 36:3004-3012, 2018.