CT Scan

Effectiveness of Diagnostic Tools for Sciatica

Ben Parr — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 14:40:31 -0800

A physician answers patient questions about diagnostics tools for diagnosing sciatica.

Question: Discogram, CT scan, or myelogram for sciatica diagnosis?

Since a spinal fusion surgery eight years ago, all activities and exercise create sciatica pain. The leg numbness and tingling and aching from the sciatica are so bad they sometimes wake me at night.

Diagnostic Studies, Patient History, and Physical Exams for Spinal Fusion

Ben Parr — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 10:03:28 -0800

There are three essential aspects to understanding whether one is a good candidate for spinal fusion to treat their low back pain:

Back Pain Diagnosis: Diagnostic Tests for Indicators of Back Pain

Ben Parr — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 14:24:08 -0800

Diagnostic tests can indicate if a patient's back pain is due to an anatomic cause. However, because diagnostic tests in and of themselves are not a diagnosis, arriving at an accurate clinical diagnosis requires any test to be to be correlated with the patient's back pain symptoms and physical exam.

The most common diagnostic tests include:

CAT Scan Computer assisted tomography

spine-health — Fri, 04 Jan 2008 07:52:26 -0800

Definition

A CAT scan is a diagnostic test that enables the spinal canal to be imaged and assessed for specific conditions. The scan works by shooting an x-ray beam at 160 points throughout the body and crystals opposite the beam pick up and record the absorption rates of the varying thicknesses of tissue and bone.

Diagnostic Tests for a Cervical Herniated Disc

spine-health — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:26:49 -0800

Computerized Tomography (CT scan) with Myelogram

spine-health — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:16:21 -0800

When combined with a myelogram, a CT scan provides for excellent nerve detail during an examination of back pain. The myelogram adds some additional risk and expense to the CT scan but provides substantial information about the nerve roots.

A myelogram consists of injecting a radiographically opaque dye (dye that is picked up by x-ray) into the sac around the nerve roots, which in turn lights up the nerve roots.

Do I Need an MRI Scan?

spine-health — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:16:21 -0800

The MRI (Magnetic resonance Imaging) was developed in the 1980’s and has revolutionized treatment for patients with low back pain. An MRI scan is generally considered to be the single best imaging study of the spine to help plan treatment for back pain.

Computerized Tomography (CT scan)

spine-health — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:16:21 -0800

A CT scan (see Figure 1) is essentially a fancy x-ray that can take cross section images of the body.

They provide excellent bony detail, yet through multiple views are also capable of imaging for back pain caused by specific conditions, such as:

Diagnosis of Bone Spurs

spine-health — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:16:19 -0800

Diagnostic evaluation begins with the clinical examination. Your health care provider should perform a detailed neurological and spine evaluation assessing for spinal nerve and spinal cord compression.

Common diagnostic tests include:

Electroconductive tests are commonly performed to document the degree and severity of spinal nerve injury. The EMG and nerve conduction test (EMG/NCV) tests will exclude peripheral nerve compression such as carpal tunnel syndrome.
read more

Osteoarthritis Diagnosis

spine-health — Tue, 11 Dec 2007 21:13:34 -0800

Any patient experiencing back pain or stiffness in a joint or joints for more than two weeks should see his or her physician for an evaluation. The evaluation usually consists of a discussion of symptoms and a detailed medical history, a physical examination and—if osteoarthritis is suspected—a series of x rays. Other tests (blood tests, MRI or CT scans) may be performed to confirm the presence of spinal arthritis or to rule out other conditions that can cause similar symptoms, such as a tumor, infection, fracture, or other types of arthritis.