Sedation is also helpful for kids who are claustrophobic. To relieve anxiety before and during the test, some patients take an oral sedative on the way to the hospital or radiology center.
You can stay in the MRI room with your child until the test begins, and in some centers you may be able to stay throughout the test.
Otherwise, you'll join the technician in an outer room or be asked to stay in a waiting room. If you're nearby, you'll be able to watch through a large window and talk to your child through an intercom during breaks between the scans. This can soothe your child if he or she is awake in the MRI machine.
A lumbar spine MRI usually takes about minutes to perform. Your child will lie on the movable scanning table while the technologist places him or her into position. A special plastic device called a coil may be placed around your child's head.
The table will slide into the tunnel and the technician will take images of the lumbar spine. Each scan takes a few minutes. As the exam proceeds, your child will hear repetitive sounds from the machine, which are normal. Your child may be given headphones to listen to music or earplugs to block the noise, and will have access to a call button in case he or she becomes uneasy during the test.
If sedated, your child will be monitored at all times and will be connected to a machine that checks the heartbeat, breathing, and oxygen level. Once the exam is over, the technician will help your child off the table; if sedation was used, your child may be moved to a recovery area.
MRIs are painless. Therefore the MRI report may mention many different findings or abnormalities, making patients feel like everything is wrong with their spine. However all, none or some of these findings may explain your symptoms. Additionally, the severity of findings is very subjective and may differ between physicians.
The spine specialist should review the actual images with you and answer any questions you have about your report. If surgery eventually is required , surgery is intended to only fix the issues causing the symptoms and not to make your spine or MRI look perfect.
The lumbar spine consists of bones usually five vertebral bodies stacked on top of each other and separated by five discs. The vertebral bodies are usually labeled 1 through 5, and the discs are named by the bones above and below. Therefore the L4 and L5 vertebral bodies are separated by the L disc. Just below the lumbar spine is the sacrum so the bottom disc is called L5-S1.
This normal configuration is reported in the MRI report as both sagittal and axial depictions. The sagittal view is a profile picture. The axial view is a cross-section. Just behind the column of bones and discs is the sac which holds the nerves and fluid, called cerebral spinal fluid CSF. The spinal cord itself ends around the TL1 level, but the nerves continue down the lumbar spine as the cauda equina.
At each disc level, a nerve exits the spine and goes to a specific region of the leg. The back side of the spine is more bone called the lamina and spinous process. The nerves go to specific regions of the leg. The L1 and L2 nerves tend to go to the groin region.
The L3 nerve to the front of the thigh. The L4 nerve to the shin and instep. The L5 nerve to the top of the foot and big toe. The S1 nerve to the outside and bottom of the foot. The disc normally is composed of 2 parts. These are microscopic and cannot exactly be differentiated on an MRI. The central softer part of the disc is the nucleus and the out layer is the annulus. At least 80 percent of Americans experience back pain at some point. Try these seven natural strategies to alleviate your discomfort.
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Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect. Lumbar MRI Scan. Medically reviewed by William Morrison, M. Why a lumbar MRI is done. The risks of a lumbar MRI scan. How to prepare for a lumbar MRI. How a lumbar MRI is performed. After a lumbar MRI. Read this next. As they shrink, the discs begin to bulge into the central spinal canal. Disc herniations can be large and appear permanent. However, the immune system breaks down the disc material slowly over time.
If the disc herniation material remains viscous, it may disappear as seen in the picture below. Begin with the images of the lengthwise spine, also known as the sagittal images. Identify the middle of the central canal where the spinal cord and nerves float in the protective cerebral spinal fluid CSF. This area highlights the junction between the intervertebral discs, bones, ligaments and nerves of the spine. Anything that interrupts the smooth linear border of the central canal may be a potential problem.
A normal image is noted below on the left compared with the figure on the right which demonstrates severe spinal stenosis. In the lengthwise spine views, identify the five vertebral bodies that form the lumbar spine. Disc levels are numbered top down from one to five. Their function is to support and protect the delicate nerves that pass through to the pelvis and lower legs. They should be rectangular and the bone marrow within should be a uniform grey color.
However, if the vertebral bodies look triangular, it indicates a fracture inset. In step 3, look at the alignment of the posterior borders of the five vertebral bodies red line shown below. The picture on the left demonstrates a normal spine with a smooth line connecting the posterior borders.
Disruption of that smooth line by the vertebral bodies is a result of wear-in-tear of the bone, ligament or discs. Images of spinal instability are demonstrated in the pictures on right.
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