Identification of baseball movements that promote lumbar disc degeneration

2022 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

• Project/Area Number: 21K21263
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Research Activity Start-up
• Allocation Type: Multi-year Fund
• Review Section: 0909:Sports sciences, physical education, health sciences, and related fields
• Research Institution: Waseda University
• Principal Investigator: OSHIKAWA Tomoki 早稲田大学, スポーツ科学学術院, 助教 (80907171)
• Project Period (FY): 2021-08-30 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: 野球 / 腰椎椎間板 / MRI

Outline of Final Research Achievements

The current study clarified the relationship between the physical characteristics of baseball players and the load on the lumbar intervertebral disc caused by each baseball motion.
The participants were healthy adult men and women with baseball experience. They were taken magnetic resonance imaging before and after repetitive pitching, batting, and catching a ball motions. In addition, the range of motion was measured. Each experimental day was separated by at least one week. From the analysis results, there was a relationship between the lumbar spine angle when the lumbar spine was extended to the maximum in the standing position and when the knee joint was 90 degrees in squat, and the load on the lumbar intervertebral disc due to catching a ball motion. These results indicate that the load on the lumbar intervertebral discs increases for players who cannot greatly extend their lumbar spine or who bend their lumbar spine in catching a ball posture.

Free Research Field

スポーツ整形外科学

Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements

腰椎椎間板変性は野球選手に好発し、重症化すると椎間板ヘルニアとなり、競技復帰まで長期間を要する。本研究によって得られた知見より、野球選手の腰椎椎間板変性を予防するためには、腰椎を大きく反れることや守備姿勢でも腰椎が曲がらないことが要求され、腰椎角度に着目した選手へのアプローチが競技現場でも期待される。また、椎間板変性が好発する他競技において、本研究で用いた運動による椎間板への負荷の定量化方法による検証が波及することが期待される。