Skin compliance: Measuring skin consistency in the spinal region of healthy children and adults

Abstract

A vacuum tissue compliance meter was used for objective documentation of soft tissue consistency in the spinal region of 20 healthy children and 20 healthy adults. The paraspinal measurements were taken at levels C6, T1, T3, T6, T10, L3 and L5 with increasing vacuum values of between 2 and 25 kPa. Differences between the spinal levels were significant. The greatest amount of skin compliance was found at level C6; levels decreased from the cervical to the lumbar level with a slight increase at level T10. The children were shown to have more skin compliance than the adults, and the females more than the males. Both intra- and inter-observer reliability were satisfactory. Measurements on both sides correlated highly. No significant differences could be found between the measurements of the two investigators. The maximum regional differences were measured using a vacuum of 15 kPa. There was no significant difference between measuring the skin in the morning or afternoon. Skin compliance was not related to subcutaneous fat according to skinfold measurements.