Tag Archives: Scans

Back Pain Patients Can Skip MRI Scans

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Back pain sufferers who get steroid injections do not need to receive MRI scans.
The costly scans are usually given before the injections, but have little impact on
whether or not the injections will be given.

(Reuters) – People who get steroid injections to ease back pain do not
need an MRI scan, which does little to help doctors assess and treat
patients but adds significant costs, U.S. researchers said on Monday.

Steroid injections in the back are among the most common treatments at
pain clinics, and doctors routinely order a magnetic resonance imaging, or
MRI, scan before treatment.

At $1,500 each, these scans are a costly addition that may not be
necessary, says Dr. Steven Cohen of Johns Hopkins University School of
Medicine, whose study appears in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

“Our results suggest that MRI is unlikely to avert a procedure, diminish
complications or improve outcomes,” Cohen said in a statement.

Given how often these procedures are done, skipping the MRI beforehand
could save significant time and money, he said.

Medical imaging tests have revolutionized health care, giving doctors
a way to look inside the body to make better decisions and help avoid
unnecessary treatments.

But recently, doctors have come under fire for ordering too many
unnecessary imaging tests, adding to… continue reading

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Needless MRI Scans Result Of Physicians’ Financial Ties

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Your physician’s financial ties could be a deciding factor in whether or not you receive an expensive MRI scan for lower back pain. Physicians who own the equipment are more likely to order the scans.

CHICAGO — There may be good reason to ask about financial ties if your doctor orders an expensive imaging test for your aching back: Patients whose physicians own the equipment are more likely to get scans they might not need than those whose doctors have no financial interest, a small study suggests.

Researchers analyzed reports on 500 MRI scans performed on patients with lower back pain that had been sent for review to Duke University. Of the scans with normal results, 106 were ordered by orthopedic surgeons who owned the machines versus 57 by doctors without financial ties.

The normal scans accounted for about half of those ordered by surgeons with financial connections, compared with about a quarter in the other group. The authors only examined the scans, so there’s no information on the patients’ medical history or outcome.

But the results suggest that some doctors who own MRI scanners use them excessively on patients who probably don’t need them, to help pay for the expensive equipment and make a… continue reading

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