Doctors who read MRI’s

I was running with an attorney 2 weeks ago. About 5 miles in she said something profound. She said “People don’t understand that words have meanings.” I immediately started to think about an article I read in SPINE (a professional research journal). They did research on MRI reports of disc herniations. They concluded that “the specific morphology (shape) of the herniation was not reported by the radiologist in 42.2% of the cases.”

The problem is that most doctors only see the radiology report,they never see the actual pictures and many doctors aren’t trained to read the MRI itself. The report later says “the radiology dictation did not provide enough detail to classify the herniation as protrusion, extrusion or sequestered fragment.” The choice of words here is very important. Why is this important? Because one of these (the sequestered fragment) often requires emergency surgery! Extrusion should be referred for surgical consultation first instead of loading the spinal disc with more pressure with exercises routinely performed in physical therapy.

It is critically important to work with doctors who are have extensive knowledge in the interpretation of MRI with traumatic injuries.

If you have had an MRI study performed, please bring in the films or disc as well as the report.  I like to read the MRI myself.  I teach my doctors, “If a picture is worth a thousand words, why settle for a 200 word report?”

Click here to see Dr. Lowe’s Curriculum Vitae

• SPINE, Lurie,Dorman,Spratt, Tosteson & Weinstein (2009) pg 703-705

Louisville Chiropractor, Patrick Lowe works with low back pain, neck pain, whiplash and other injuries related to car accidents.  He spends his spare time studying the best treatments and diagnostic tests for these conditions.