A review of 571 radiographs on Tuffier’s inter-cristal line and its’ application in lumbar spinal surgery

摘要

BackgroundTuffier’s line (TL) is an anatomical landmark used to identify the L4/5 interspace by palpating inter-cristal level in lumbar spinal surgery. The routine use of pre-operative pre-incision radiographs for level check by spinal surgeons is variable due to reliance on this palpation. The anatomical violation of neighbouring normal levels in microscope assisted lumbar surgery is unknown. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of patient-related demographic factors and radiographic parameters on TL in a cohort of patients undergoing lumbar spinal procedures.