Getting an MRI of the spine can take a long time.
Are there any options to make it shorter?
That's an interesting question.
As a neurosurgeon and researcher here at CHEO, we wanted to see
if there was a more efficient, and just as effective way for us to get
an MRI scan of a patient's spine without having to take as many images
which often require us to sedate patients for long periods of time.
I designed a study that reviewed MRI scans done here at CHEO
between 2017 and 2020.
I wanted to see if taking fewer images could provide
similar information about a number of common clinical conditions
compared to traditional MRI scans, which are much more lengthy.
We had two blinded Neuroradiologists review
the limited protocol MRI scan,
and then compared the results to the conventional MRI scan.
A total of 105 studies were evaluated,
and what we found was that compared to traditional MRI
scans, which take upwards of 35 minutes,
the shortened MRI protocol only took 15 minutes.
We also found that the percent agreement
between using the shortened MRI protocol compared to traditional
MRI scan was 95% or more for the majority of conditions.
This study demonstrates that using fewer specific images of the spine
still provides accurate diagnosis of a number of common clinical conditions.
A shortened imaging protocol has a lot of potential as a screening test
and reduces the need for a much longer MRI scan requiring general anesthetic.
This in turn reduces resources and time
required in the hospital and also reduces stress for kids.