I observed the imaging MRI department with Stacy on 4/3 and 4/5 from 1:30 to 4:30. One the first day I watched imaging be done for Lumbar spine, 2 shoulders, and a brain scan. Stacy explained how they focus the image by lining up boxes over the appropriate anatomy on their computer screens. They take three view: a sagittal, coronal, and transverse view of every imaging request. One the lumbar scan Stacy enlarged the photos and showed me where the patient was having stenosis of disks L4 and L5. Both of the shoulder scans were looking for labral tears, both came back negative. The brain scan was looking at the brain vessel of a post stroke patient. The results came back with minor damage.
The second day I saw a pelvic scan, lumbar scan, knee scan, and an artery scan. The pelvic scan was really sad because it was a 16-year-old boy and they MRI came back with a large sarcoma. The lumbar scan had a disk herniation L4-L5. The knee scan was for a suspected meniscus tear, but it came back negative. That man came back to the computer area because he wanted to look at the pictures. It didn’t look like a meniscus tear. The man was describing how he is a runner and just recently he started having lateral knee pain. To me, it sounded like he might just have some IT band friction syndrome. The artery scan was interesting because they did it without contrast. This is because the GFR they inject to get the contract would have caused a reaction with the patient because he has kidney issues. However, without the contract, the test came back pretty bright, and he had no blockages.
One thing the Radiologists seemed to keep complaining about while I was there is that doctors would refer their patients, and call asking for an MRI when it wasn’t necessary. So what I learned while I was there is that MRI is just a more detailed version of an X-ray, and when I am an AT I shouldn’t refer my patients their unless it is truly necessary.
The second day I saw a pelvic scan, lumbar scan, knee scan, and an artery scan. The pelvic scan was really sad because it was a 16-year-old boy and they MRI came back with a large sarcoma. The lumbar scan had a disk herniation L4-L5. The knee scan was for a suspected meniscus tear, but it came back negative. That man came back to the computer area because he wanted to look at the pictures. It didn’t look like a meniscus tear. The man was describing how he is a runner and just recently he started having lateral knee pain. To me, it sounded like he might just have some IT band friction syndrome. The artery scan was interesting because they did it without contrast. This is because the GFR they inject to get the contract would have caused a reaction with the patient because he has kidney issues. However, without the contract, the test came back pretty bright, and he had no blockages.
One thing the Radiologists seemed to keep complaining about while I was there is that doctors would refer their patients, and call asking for an MRI when it wasn’t necessary. So what I learned while I was there is that MRI is just a more detailed version of an X-ray, and when I am an AT I shouldn’t refer my patients their unless it is truly necessary.