Medical
Evaluation and Diagnostic Testing procedures should be performed
prior to beginning any treatment in order to determine the treatment
process that will be most effective. The following describes some
of the evaluation testing procedures that can be performed to
help confirm the cause of back pain.
The causes of back pain can be very complex, and there are many
structures in the lower back that can cause pain. The following
are used to test for the cause pain:
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X-RAYS
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An
X-Ray provides an image that can be used to evaluate bones,
joints and degenerative lesions in the spine.
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CAT
SCAN (CT)
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Used
primarily when problems are suspected in the bones or when
a patient can’t obtain an MRI
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MAGNETIC
RESONANCE IMAGING (MRI)
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The
most common test to evaluate the lumbar spine. Evaluates:
*Vertebral bones * Discs * Joints * Nerves * Soft tissues
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MYELOGRAM
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where dye is injected into the spinal column and then the
area is flexed and x-rayed.
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DISCOGRAPHY
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Discography
is a diagnostic procedure used to determine the level of the
painful disc.
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EMG
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The
EMG/Nerve Conduction Study is a useful test to study the nerves
in the arms and legs.
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BONE
DENSITY
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Bone
density testing is fast, painless, and noninvasive. During
a test, patients lie fully clothed on a padded treatment table
while the machine scans one or more areas of bone. The entire
test normally takes only minutes.
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BONE
SCAN
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A
Bone scan in Nuclear Medicine is a procedure which involves
two steps:
The
patient is asked to arrive 3 hours before their actual scan
to receive an injection of a small amount of radioactive
tracer that is "tagged" to a calcium like material.
Usually the tracer is injected in a vein in the arm of the
patient. In some instances, other sites of injection are
used especially for those patients that had difficult veins
to find. The "radiopharmaceutical" has no side
effects and because of this, the patient can be released
from the department for 3 hours to give the calcium time
to circulate and be taken up by the bone. There are no dietary
restrictions so the patient may eat before and after the
injection.
After
the three hours has elapsed, the patient returns to the
Nuclear Medicine department for their scan. The patient
is placed on a table a head to toe scan is performed by
a "gamma camera".
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