Medida da área do canal vertebral lombar em diferentes faixas etárias

objective: to measure the lumbar spinal canal area, using computerized tomography, compare different age groups and determine if there are differences between those. methods: the lumbar spinal canal area was measured in 78 individuals, divided in eight age groups, with data obtained from computerized tomography scans of the abdomen. the measurements were made at l1, l3 and l5 levels at the transpedicular section. results: the values for l1 produced a p-value of 0,586 for the age group and a p-value of 0,003 for sex. therefore, we can say that there is no evidence of differences among age rage groups, but shows evidence of difference for sex being larger in males. for l3, the p-value of age rage was 0,258, and the value for sex was 0,062. for l5, the p-value for the age range was 0279, and the value for sex was 0,003. conclusion: there is no difference of spinal canal area between the age groups, but there is difference for the sex being larger in males.