SPINE-GENERAL CHARACTERISTICS

SUMMARY

1. Made up of 5 parts

2. Consists of 31-32 bones

3. In the fetus is shaped like a 'C', this is the primary curvature

4. This configuration is retained throughout life in the thoracic, sacral and coccygeal segments

5. Secondary curvature produces lordosis in the cervical and lumbar spines

6. The actual shock-absorbing elements are the intervertebral discs


Image: Case courtesy of Craig Hacking, Radiopaedia.org. From the case rID: 83007.

Reference(s)

R.M.H McMinn (1998). Last’s anatomy: regional and applied. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone. Get it on Amazon.
Drake, Richard L., et al. Gray's Anatomy for Students. Elsevier, 2023. Get it on Amazon.