BACKGROUND Cervical spine ligaments that protect the spinal cord and stabilize the spine are frequently injured in motor vehicle collisions and other traumatic situations. These injuries are usually incomplete, and often difficult to notice. The focus of the presented study is placed on analysis of the effect of subfailure load on the mechanical response of the three main cervical spine ligaments: the anterior and the posterior longitudinal ligament and the ligamentum flavum. METHODS A total of 115 samples of human cadaveric ligaments removed within 24-48 h after death have been tested. Uniaxial tension tests along the fiber direction were performed in physiological conditions on a custom designed test equipment. The ligaments were loaded into an expected damage zone at two different subfailure values (based on previously reported reference group of 46 samples), and then reloaded to failure. FINDINGS The main effect of a high subfailure load has proven to be the toe elongation change. The toe elongation increase is affected by the subfailure load value. While anterior and posterior longitudinal ligament showed similar changes, the smallest subfailure effect was found in ligamentum flavum. INTERPRETATIONS The normal physiological region of the cervical spine ligaments mechanical response is modified by a high subfailure load. The observed ligament injury significantly compromises ligament ability to give tensile support within physiological spinal motion.

中文翻译：

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人体颈椎韧带受损的机械反应分析。

背景技术在机动车碰撞和其他创伤情况下，保护脊髓并稳定脊柱的颈椎韧带经常受伤。这些伤害通常是不完整的，并且通常很难发现。本研究的重点放在分析次失败负荷对三种主要颈椎韧带（前，后纵韧带和黄韧带）的机械反应的影响。方法对死亡后24-48 h内取出的115例人体尸体韧带样本进行了测试。沿纤维方向的单轴拉伸测试是在生理条件下，使用定制设计的测试设备进行的。将韧带以两个不同的亚失效值（根据先前报道的46个样本参考组）加载到预期的损伤区域，然后重新加载至失效。发现高次失效载荷的主要影响已被证明是脚趾伸长率的变化。脚趾伸长率的增加受亚失效载荷值的影响。尽管前后纵韧带表现出相似的变化，但在黄韧带中发现最小的亚衰竭作用。解释颈椎韧带的正常生理区域的机械反应因高的次衰竭负荷而改变。观察到的韧带损伤显着损害了韧带在生理性脊柱运动内提供拉伸支持的能力。发现高次失效载荷的主要影响已被证明是脚趾伸长率的变化。脚趾伸长率的增加受亚失效载荷值的影响。尽管前后纵韧带表现出相似的变化，但在黄韧带中发现最小的亚衰竭作用。解释颈椎韧带的正常生理区域的机械反应会因高次衰竭负荷而改变。观察到的韧带损伤显着损害了韧带在生理性脊柱运动内提供拉伸支持的能力。发现高次失效载荷的主要影响已被证明是脚趾伸长率的变化。脚趾伸长率的增加受亚失效载荷值的影响。尽管前后纵韧带表现出相似的变化，但在黄韧带中发现最小的亚衰竭作用。解释颈椎韧带的正常生理区域的机械反应因高的次衰竭负荷而改变。观察到的韧带损伤显着损害了韧带在生理脊柱运动内提供拉伸支持的能力。解释颈椎韧带的正常生理区域的机械反应因高的次衰竭负荷而改变。观察到的韧带损伤显着损害了韧带在生理性脊柱运动内提供拉伸支持的能力。解释颈椎韧带的正常生理区域的机械反应会因高次衰竭负荷而改变。观察到的韧带损伤显着损害了韧带在生理性脊柱运动内提供拉伸支持的能力。