Spine Conditions - Instructional Use Statement
The following information is used for instructional purposes for students enrolled in the Physical Therapist Assistant Program at Lane Community College. It is not intended for commercial use or distribution or commercial purposes. It is not intended to serve as medical advice or treatment. Contact howardc@lanecc.edu for permissions.
Introduction
In this lesson, students will apply knowledge of anatomy and kinesiology of the spine to specific disorders encountered in physical therapy. The content and instruction assumes students have a working knowledge of the bones, ligaments, nerves, and muscles of the spine. Spinal pain is the number one reason people encounter and use physical therapy. PTAs must have an understanding of normal and abnormal spinal function and degenerative conditions in order to correctly select, apply, and compare results with the physical therapy evaluation and assessment.
Objectives
- Identify major function and motions of the cervical, thoracic, and lumbar spine
- Describe common characteristics of healing phases for spine conditions
- Describe factors that contribute to common spine conditions:
- presentation (signs and symptoms)
- commonly involved spinal segments where relevant
- causes and/or prevention (e.g. structures and/or motions, muscle imbalances)
- co morbidities and psychosocial contributors
- Differentiate between conditions of hypomobility versus instability
- Discriminate between clinical scenarios which indicate a surgical or other medical emergency/complication
- Compare and describe common spine surgeries
- Describe findings of musculoskeletal, neuromuscular, and special tests performed during PT examination of spinal disorders.
- Compare and contrast classification systems for low back and spinal pain