Clinical Assessment of the Spine Focused Flashcards
Name the 7 most commonly used diagnostic imaging tools.
X-ray Tomography Myelography Discography CT MRI Bone scans
Briefly describe x-ray.
X-rays are like a different form of light that is so strong it goes through you. They shoot some of these X-rays through you and they hit a spot that has a material similar to an old camera’s film that picks up X-rays instead of normal light. It’s like a picture.
Briefly describe myelography.
Was the gold standard for spine investigation but has been mostly replaced by CT and MRI.
Briefly describe discography.
Under local anaesthetic radio-opaque contrast medium is injected into the disc. This has two applications:
- Enable physician to visualize any defect with the disc.
- The increase in pressure from the injection can cause the patient to experience their usual pain symptoms.
Briefly describe CT.
CT scans are just like X-rays but more high-tech. It’s a lot of X-ray pictures put together to make a 3D image.
Briefly describe MRI.
It uses a HUUUGE and really strong magnet. When your body gets exposed to such a huge magnetic field, all of the atoms in your body get “lined up” with it. The magnet changes the angle a little bit and this causes the atoms to create a little magnetic field of their own, and that gets picked up by the machine and interpreted as an image.
What’s the difference between T1 and T2 weighted images?
T1 - dark CSF - used to demonstrate normal anatomy.
T2 - white CSF - used to demonstrate pathology
Which imaging modality would be the best for viewing bony changes or abnormalities?
MRI - gives visualization of both bony anatomy and pathology.
Which imaging modality would be the best for viewing soft tissue changes, diseases or abnormalities?
MRI
Which condition would an oblique x-ray be used to diagnose?
A fractured pars interarticularis.
