Table 3

Average (SD) stiffness (N/mm) at 25, 50, and 75% of failure force for whiplash-exposed human cervical ligaments. Mechanical property data were obtained at an average peak elongation rate of 725 (SD 95) mm/s. Significant differences (P < 0.05) among ligaments are indicated in the column Significant. A blank entry indicates no significant difference was observed.


Stiffness at 25%
Significant
Stiffness at 50%
Significant
Stiffness at 75%
Significant




ALL
57.2 (34.5)
ISL+SSL
59.3 (35.5)
LF,ISL+SSL
60.2 (38.5)
LF,ISL+SSL
MTD
61.8 (48.9)

85.9 (72.3)
ISL+SSL
104.2 (90.5)
ISL+SSL
PLL
55.2 (21.1)
ISL+SSL
55.4 (23.9)
LF
53.8 (30.1)
LF
CL
60.7 (29.3)
ISL+SSL
57.6 (28.6)
LF,ISL+SSL
52.0 (32.2)

LF
77.2 (38.8)
ISL+SSL
96.5 (51.0)
ALL,PLL,CL,ISL+SSL
112.1 (61.8)
ALL,PLL,ISL+SSL
ISL+SSL
21.7 (10.1)
ALL,PLL,CL,LF
19.1 (9.4)
ALL,MTD,CL,LF
15.7 (9.4)
ALL,MTD,LF

ALL: anterior longitudinal ligament, MTD: middle-third disc, PLL: posterior longitudinal ligament, CL: capsular ligament, LF: ligamentum flavum, ISL+SSL: interspinous and supraspinous ligaments.

Tominaga et al. BMC Musculoskeletal Disorders 2006 7:103   doi:10.1186/1471-2474-7-103