Diffusion tensor imaging for rehabilitation and prevention of lumbar degenerative diseases: a narrative review
Year: 2026
Type: review
Abstract: Although objective imaging markers for rehabilitation assessment are available, lumbar disc herniation (LDH) and lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS) remain two common causes of chronic low back pain (CLBP). Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) is a non-invasive imaging modality that allows estimation of water-molecule anisotropy and assessment of the microstructure of nerve roots and paraspinal muscles. Postoperative monitoring, preoperative prognostic assessment, evaluation of conservative treatment, detection of paraspinal muscle degeneration, and prevention of injuries during military training are examples of DTI applications in the rehabilitation and prevention of lumbar degenerative disease (LDD). There are two aspects of "prevention": primary prevention, which concerns early warning of training injuries; and secondary prevention, which concerns the quality of rehabilitation to avoid long-term disability. Initial results suggest that DTI has the potential to identify progressive recovery of fractional anisotropy (FA) following surgery, act as a preoperative outcome predictor, evaluate the efficacy of conservative treatment, and detect age- and disease-related changes in the paraspinal muscle. These results have particular implications for military personnel, where DTI could be used to monitor training load and help reduce non-combat casualties. However, most findings remain preliminary and need to be confirmed in military populations.
Source: Frontiers in Medicine
Authors: Nan Zhang, Baohua Zhang, Zemin Zhao, Di Xu, Yang Xu
Institution: North China University of Technology
Language: English
Subfield: Orthopedics and Sports Medicine
Field: Medicine
Domain: Health Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $3,801
OpenAlex ID: W7223178089