Chief of Interventional Radiology Red Rock Radiology Las Vegas, Nevada
Diagnostic imaging is an integral component for the differential diagnosis. In routine clinical practice there has been a tendency of clinical examinations to become more cursory, largely influenced by increasing demands of time, and patient expectations of technological advances. The end result may arguably lead to an overreliance upon technology for basic clinical diagnosis.
The purpose of this session is two-fold. It is meant to provide a review, and for some, an introduction to basic imaging studies especially MRIs, used for the diagnosis of pain related problems. Attention will also be given to the limitations of such studies and the importance of establishing clinical relevance to their findings. Factors that adversely affect clinical management potentially resulting in failed treatment will be discussed as well as best practices and clinical pearls when utilizing such studies to help enhance clinical outcomes for treatment.
This session will also address serval commonly missed clinical issues that often go overlooked, such as vertebral compression fractures, and both costovertebral joint and sacroiliac joint pathologies that could be easily treated with favorable clinical outcomes including insight for treatment of such conditions
Learning Objectives:
Identify basic imaging studies used for the diagnosis of pain disorders.
Describe the clinical utility and limitations of such studies for the differential diagnosis of pain pathologies.
Explain strategies to enhance the clinical yield of imaging studies, to reflect clinical relevance.
Identify conditions often overlooked or ignored on imaging studies along with clinical pearls for treatment.
Describe imaging findings that trigger the treatment algorithm in painful osteoporotic and pathologic vertebral fractures.
