ReviewFrontiers in medicine2026
Biomechanical compensatory chain and residual compensation potential in aging spinal deformity: a narrative review and multimodal assessment framework.
Review in Frontiers in medicine, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
0 citing papers in PubMed.
No citing paper in PubMed yet.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
4 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
Background/objectives: As a prevalent condition among the elderly, adult spinal deformity (ASD) initiates progressive decompensation not only in the spine but also throughout the lower limbs. This systemic impairment reduces the elderly's mobility, elevates the risk of falls, and consequently places a considerable burden on public health. Current assessment approaches frequently neglect the physiological 'cost' of such compensatory adaptations. This review aims to clarify the biomechanical relationship between sagittal spinal imbalance and secondary lower limb pathologies, and to propose "Residual Compensation Potential" (RCP) innovatively as a quantifiable framework for evaluation. Methods: A narrative review was conducted by retrieving PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase databases (up to December 2025). We synthesized evidence regarding spinal-pelvic parameters, lower limb kinematics, and joint degeneration mechanisms to construct a 'imbalance-compensation-degeneration' closed-loop model. Results: The compensatory chain follows a hierarchical sequence: posterior pelvic tilt, hip hyperextension, knee flexion, and ankle dorsiflexion. While initially protective, prolonged maintenance of these postures alters mechanical loading and leads to specific degenerative changes: anterior hip cartilage wear from hyperextension, patellofemoral overload from knee flexion, and Achilles tendinopathy from sustained dorsiflexion. We introduce the RCP as a proposed framework, which combines EOS imaging, 3D gait analysis, and surface electromyography (sEMG) to quantify the remaining compensatory capacity of these joints. The resulting RCP score stratifies patients into compensation-preserved or compensation-depleted categories, informing targeted surgical and rehabilitative planning. Conclusion: The evaluation of adult spinal deformity should extend beyond static spinal alignment to include the functional status of the lower limbs. The proposed RCP framework offers a novel method to assess the risk of secondary joint degeneration and postoperative imbalance. Consequently, clinical management must evolve from a focus on radiographic correction alone toward the holistic recovery of the entire compensatory chain, ensuring that spinal realignment translates into stable and functional gait.
Indexed as
Identifiers
What Socratic holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.