After a car accident, it's common for accident victims to head to the hospital for scans of the affected regions of their body injured by the accident. Many who complain of whiplash or back pain will be sent for an MRI of the spine. New research shows that MRIs may not be the best tool to evaluate injury.
For those unfamiliar or lucky enough to not have any experience with an MRI, it stands for magnetic resonance image. It's the generally accepted go-to scan over x-rays or CAT scans. It's especially prevalent in use with patients suffering from herniated discs or sciatica.
What causes the sudden red flag is research where doctors compared MRI scans for patients that had surgery within in a year of the first scan. Researchers saw that the before and after images were almost completely indistinct. It was hard for the professionals to tell which patients had benefited at all from surgery based on images alone.
Usually, the follow up MRIs are meant as a compass following surgery. Doctors use the images to determine their success in treating the injury thus far and decide whether further surgical intervention is needed in the patient. However, if the MRIs are unreliable then some patients may receive unnecessary surgery to correct their pain.
Additionally, MRIs are expensive per image to the patient and the health care provider. Each scan can cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Without good health insurance to cover the cost, many patients may be paying for scans that bankrupt them without any real benefits.
"I was shocked myself by the findings, as I do see a lot of patients with repeated MRI scanning, and I was a firm believer that a herniated disc with nerve root compression was causing the problems. Now that we have proven that these recurrent or persistent sciatica and low-back complaints are less likely to be one-on-one related [to MRI findings], we should be more careful in our conclusions and promises about the outcomes of repeat surgery," said one doctor featured in the study.
If you are experiencing back pain following an accident, have a discussion with your doctor about your symptoms. An MRI may be necessary to eliminate questions with your diagnosis. However, if you feel the multiple MRIs are unnecessary, speak up. The images may not be the best way to determine your injury.
For those unfamiliar or lucky enough to not have any experience with an MRI, it stands for magnetic resonance image. It's the generally accepted go-to scan over x-rays or CAT scans. It's especially prevalent in use with patients suffering from herniated discs or sciatica.
What causes the sudden red flag is research where doctors compared MRI scans for patients that had surgery within in a year of the first scan. Researchers saw that the before and after images were almost completely indistinct. It was hard for the professionals to tell which patients had benefited at all from surgery based on images alone.
Usually, the follow up MRIs are meant as a compass following surgery. Doctors use the images to determine their success in treating the injury thus far and decide whether further surgical intervention is needed in the patient. However, if the MRIs are unreliable then some patients may receive unnecessary surgery to correct their pain.
Additionally, MRIs are expensive per image to the patient and the health care provider. Each scan can cost anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars. Without good health insurance to cover the cost, many patients may be paying for scans that bankrupt them without any real benefits.
"I was shocked myself by the findings, as I do see a lot of patients with repeated MRI scanning, and I was a firm believer that a herniated disc with nerve root compression was causing the problems. Now that we have proven that these recurrent or persistent sciatica and low-back complaints are less likely to be one-on-one related [to MRI findings], we should be more careful in our conclusions and promises about the outcomes of repeat surgery," said one doctor featured in the study.
If you are experiencing back pain following an accident, have a discussion with your doctor about your symptoms. An MRI may be necessary to eliminate questions with your diagnosis. However, if you feel the multiple MRIs are unnecessary, speak up. The images may not be the best way to determine your injury.
