Execution:
- Patient is standing approximately 1 leg length away from the treatment table with the feet shoulder width apart
- The patient is asked to flex the back forward with both hands on the edge of the treatment table
- The examiner examines the patient’s lumbar spine from top to bottom and pays attention to the gaps between the spinous processes. If one level appears bent or the gap appears wider, the examiner should focus on that region in the following step
- The examiner then palpates the lumbar spine in cranial to caudal direction and evaluates the spaces between spinous processes and the position of the upper to the lower spinous processes
- If during inspection and palpation an area appears to have a wider superior/inferior or anterior/posterior gap, the examiner places both of his thumbs on each of the spinous processes
- At last, the patient is asked to extend the spine by pushing the pelvis towards the treatment table while the examiner palpates the spinous processes
Positive Outcome: The interspinous gap abruptly becomes narrow compared to other levels or if the position of the upper spinous process compared to the lower spinous process changes anteriorly or posteriorly from its original state
|
Study |
Reliability | Sn | Sp | LR+ | LR- |
| NA | 82 | 61 | 8.84 |
0.17 |
|
| Inter-rater Κ=0.63 | NA | NA | NA |
NA |
|
| Comment: The test was compared to lumbar flexion/extension using a cut-off for instability of 10° for sagittal rotation and 4mm of sagittal translation | |||||
