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. 2012 May 27;221(6):507–536. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-7580.2012.01511.x

Fig. 8.

Fig. 8

This is a photograph of a transverse section taken approximately at level L3 and illustrating the fascial structures lateral to the paraspinal muscles. The specimen was embalmed using the Thiel method. This method maintains the non-linear load-deformation characteristics of biological tissue (Wilke et al. 2011). LIFT, lumbar interfascial triangle (Schuenke et al. 2012). The deep lamina of the PLF actually forms an encapsulating sheath around the multifidi and paraspinal muscles (PSM), this is the paraspinal retinacular sheath (PRS). In this image, the LIFT is under tension from forceps pulling laterally (far right side of the picture) and posteriorly (bottom of the picture). The aponeurosis of the transversus abdominis (ApoTrA) is seen to divide into a posterior (3) and anterior (2) layer before joining the PRS. The sheath is seen to form a continuous layer wrapping around the paraspinal muscles (1). This arrangement strongly suggests that the aponeurosis of the TrA and IO does not solely form the PLF and MLF, but splits to contribute to these layers by joining the PRS (a more detailed description of the composition of the fascial layers can be found in Fig. 10). Note in this specimen that the quadratus lumborum (QL) and the psoas muscle (Ps) are both strongly atrophied. Anteriorly of the QL a small part of the kidney (K) can be seen (specimen kindly supplied by the Medical faculty Ghent Belgium, Department of Anatomy).