The Lumbar Spine

Question 1

What are the most commonly injured levels of the lower spine?

Answer 1

Thoracolumbar (T11-L2)

Question 2

_____ is the initial imaging study for lumbar spine patients with the exception of ______ patients, who are evaluated by ___.

Answer 2

X-ray
High Risk Trauma
CT scan

Question 3

What 3 clinical conditions have been researched by the ACR Appropriateness criteria for the lumbar spine?

Answer 3

Suspected spine trauma
Acute LBP
Myelopathy

Question 4

What condition has been included in the diagnostic imaging pathway for the lumbar spine?

Answer 4

Acute low back pain

Question 5

What are the 5 X-rays views of the lumbar spine?

Answer 5

AP
Lateral
Oblique
L5-S1
SI AP

Question 6

What are 2 variations of CT imaging used to examine the lumbar spine?

Answer 6

CT myelogram: inject contrast into subarachnoid space before CT

CT with contrast: contrast injected into bloodstream before CT