Journal List > J Korean Soc Spine Surg > v.8(3) > 1035953

Kang: Anatomy and Physiology of Lumbar Spine

Abstract

The spinal column is separated into the 7 cervical vertebra, the 12 thoracic vertebra, the 5 lumbar vertebra, the 5 sacral vertebra and the 4 coccygeal vertebra. The cervical, thoracic and lumbar vertebra are named as the movable vertebra and the sacral and coccygeal vertebra are named as the fixed vertebra. The lumbar spine includes five large vertebra situated between the relatively immobile rib cage and the pelvis. A typical lumbar vertebra has 2 main structures which are vertebral body and vertebral arch. The vertebral body is the anterior portion of a vertebra and the vertebral arch is the posterior portion of it and surrounds the vertebral foramen. In contrast to thoracic vertebra, lumbar vertebra has a wide disc space, sagittally oriented facets, and suf-ficient space between its lamina to permit a considerable range of motion. This report will explains some important normal anatomic features of the lumbar spine and sacrum including with their musclatures and neurovascular structures.

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Fig. 1.
Lumbar vertebra(Lateral view).1; Superior articular process. 2; Superior articular surface. 3; Vertebral body. 4; Inferior articular process. 5; Spinous process.6; Pedicle. 7; Transverse process. 8; Mammillary process.
jkss-8-264f1.tif
Fig. 2.
Fifth lumbar vertebra(Cranial view).1; Superior articular process. 2; Superior articular surface. 3; Vertebral arch(lamina). 4; Spinous process. 5; Vertebral foramen. 6; Inferior articular process. 7; Transverse process. 8; Pedicle. 9; Vertebral body.
jkss-8-264f2.tif
Fig. 3.
Pelvic surface of the sacrum.1; Superior terminal surface. 2; Auricular surface of sacrum. 3; Transverse lines(ridges). 4; Pelvic sacral foramen. 5; Inferior lateral angle. 6; Piriformis. 7; Iliacus.
jkss-8-264f3.tif
Fig. 4.
Dorsal surface of the sacrum.1; Superior articular process. 2; Posterior sacral foramen. 3; Inferior lateral angle. 4; Sacral cornua. 5; Apex of sacrum. 6; Sacral hiatus. 7; Gluteus maximus. 8; Erector spinae. 9; Sacral tuberosity. 10; Multifidus.
jkss-8-264f4.tif
Fig. 5.
Lumbar vertebra(Midsagittal view).1; Anterior longitudinal ligament. 2; Vertebral body. 3; Posteior longitudinal ligament. 4; Pedicle. 5; Vertebral arch(lamina). 6; Superior articular process. 7; Ligamentum flavum. 8; Supraspinous ligament. 9; Spinous process. 10; Interspinous ligament. 11; Joint capsule. 12; Basivertebral vein. 13; Intervertebral disc.
jkss-8-264f5.tif
Fig. 6.
Posterior longitudinal ligament of Lumbar vertebra.1; Pedicle. 2; Intervertebral disc. 3; Posterior longitudinal ligament.
jkss-8-264f6.tif
Fig. 7.
Ligamentum flavum of Lumbar Vertebra.1; Pedicle. 2; Ligamentum flavum. 3; Vertebral arch(lamina).4; Inferior articular process.
jkss-8-264f7.tif
Fig. 8.
Cross section of Back, 4th lumbar vertebra.
jkss-8-264f8.tif
Fig. 9.
Thoracolumbar fascia.1; External oblique muscle. 2; Internal oblique muscle. 3; Transversus abdominis muscle. 4; Transversalis fascia. 5; Quadratus lumborum muscle. 6; Psoas major muscle. 7; Thoracolumbar fascia. 8; Latissimus dorsi muscle.
jkss-8-264f9.tif
Fig. 10.
Muscles of the vertebral column.1; Rectus capitis posterior minor. 2; Rectus capitis posterior major. 3; Obliquus capitis superior. 4; Obliquus capitis inferior. 5; Semispinalis capitis. 6; Logissimus capitis. 7; Longissimus cervicis. 8; Iliocostalis cervicis and thoracis. 9; 6th thoracic vertebra. 10; Semispinalis thoracis. 11; Multifidus. 12; Erector spinae. 13; 1st lumbar vertebra. 14; Iliocostalis lumborum. 15; Longissimus thoracis. 16; Spinalis thoracis. 17; Iliocostalis thoracis. 18; Longissimus cervicis. 19; Iliocostalis cervicis. 20; 7th cervical vertebra. 21; Splenius cervicis. 22; Semispinalis cervicis. 23; Splenius capitis.
jkss-8-264f10.tif
Fig. 11.
Conus Medullaris and Cauda Equina(Ventral)
jkss-8-264f11.tif
Fig. 12.
Internal and external vertebral venous plexus.
jkss-8-264f12.tif
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