Role of the diaphragm in trunk rotation in humans

Escrito por

Anna L. Hudson, Jane E. Butler, Simon C. Gandevia, Andre De Troyer


THE MECHANICS of a skeletal muscle is essentially determined by the anatomy of the muscle and the structures it displaces when it contracts. Given that the muscle fibers of the costal portion
of the diaphragm run cranially and dorsally from their insertion on the lower ribs, it would therefore be expected that isolated contraction of one hemidiaphragm would both lift these ribs
and pull them backward relative to the upper ribs.

In addition, even though the diaphragm is the main inspiratory muscle, it receives corticospinal inputs (e.g., Gandevia and Rothwell 1987; Murphy et al. 1990) and is involved in a range of nonrespiratory contractions, such as stabilization of the trunk prior to rapid arm movements (Hodges et al. 1997), flexion of the upper and lower extremities (Kolar et al. 2010), and trunk extension (in patients with complete cervical spinal cord injury, Sinderby et al. 1992; see also Hodges et al. 2001).

On these grounds, we hypothesized that the muscle would participate in ipsilateral rotation of the trunk. Thus the right hemidiaphragm would contract during rotation of the trunk to the
right to pull the lower rib cage on the right side dorsally relative to the spine, whereas it would remain silent during rotation of the trunk to the left (contralateral rotation). Conversely, the left hemidiaphragm would contract during rotation of the trunk to the left to pull the lower rib cage on the left side dorsally relative to the spine.

Acesse o conteúdo completo

Conheça outros artigos

Acesse nossos artigos sobre o método RTA.

Leia outro artigo: Influência do método Reequilíbrio Toracoabdominal sobre parâmetros cardiorrespiratórios em pacientes com fibrose cística

Escrito por Leandro Marques da Silva , Elizângela de Sousa Monteiro , Bruno Silva Miranda , Clesio Rafael Lopes da Silva , Anne Shirley Menezes Costa

Leia outro artigo: Mechanism of the increased rib cage expansion produced by the diaphragm with abdominal support

Escrito por André De Troyer, Theodore A. Wilson

Leia outro artigo: Efeito da aplicação do método reequilíbrio toracoabdominal (RTA) em prematuros moderados: ensaio clínico randomizado e controlado

Escrito por Jaqueline Lomônaco Lemos, Denise Iunes, Aline Roberta Danaga, Carmélia Rocha, Juliana Bassalobre Carvalho Borges