Spine in Ankylosing Spondylitis

Description: Wheeless' Textbook of Orthopaedics
Clinical Findings:

- loss of lumbar lordosis;
- back motion is limited;
- note that ability to lean forward has more to do with hip flexion than lumbar spine flexion;
- w/ forward flexion there should be a reversal of the normal lumbar lordosis;
- hip flexion contractures or cervicothoracic kyphosis is common;
- these conditions require correction;
- may have fixed cervical, thoracic, or lumbar hyperkyphosis;
- may cause marked functional limitations, primarily due to inability of affected patients to face forward;
- pts may have diminished chest expansion;