Radiography of the lumbar spine : implications of using the erect technique.

Abstract

During the course of study for becoming a radiographer it was a request that as a student I had to perform a number of clinical hours of placement in St Luke's Hospital in order to graduate. During my working experience I was always fascinated by the art of radiography of the spine, mostly the lumbar region due to the large number of cases performed each day. Most of the examinations where performed in the supine position without taking any account of any alteration which could be done to this standard technique. I did some research on the subject area and found that if the lumbar spine examination is done in the erect position a true picture of the shape of the sine will be obtained. This is due to the spine being under the forces of gravity and therefore under weight bearing condition and in most cases the patients would have their pain in this position. This led me to do my dissertation on this topic that is the value of performing lumbar spine plain x-ray examinations in the erect technique. An overview of the most common pathologies that affect the lumbar spine is given followed by an in-depth research study on the topic subject area and different ideas and research done by various specialists are discussed.