— It is natural to go to the hospital unwell, in order to understand the patient's condition, the doctor generally has to give the patient a variety of examinations. Because everyone has different symptoms, the corresponding tests are also different. There may be some patients who only need to ask a few simple questions, and the doctor can prescribe the right medicine; many patients need to pass various tests to confirm the diagnosis. Among the most common tests we are familiar with, there are CT, X-ray, and MRI. The first two we often encounter in the examination, but the partial MRI examination rarely sees the doctor prescribe to the patient, why is this?
Is it true that the doctor is not responsible? What's the mystery?
Before we understand why, let's look at two cases. One was when I was in my own clinic, when a 70-year-old man came to the doctor because of nasal congestion and fever. After asking about the grandfather's medical history, the preliminary judgment was only these symptoms caused by viral colds. Just when I was prescribing medicine for the old man, the old man was not happy: "Can you simply prescribe me a medicine like this?" Can you give me an MRI? "You're just cold, don't worry."
"But I just don't feel at ease, people say that THE MRI is more accurate, so you can quickly open a checklist for me!" ... At that time, I could only smile bitterly inside, wasn't the doctor not prescribing it to you, do you really understand MRI? Just casually ask for an MRI. 02 — First of all, it should be stated that the "core" of MRI is not the "core" of the Fukushima nuclear power plant. So there is no need to worry about MRI radiation or carcinogenicity. As a relatively common means of imaging examination, the principle of nuclear magnetic resonance is to use a very powerful magnetic field to make the magnetic field line direction of the magnetic field of the water molecules in our body become consistent.
Then the magnetic field of the MAGNETIC resonance machine suddenly disappears, and at the same time, the direction of the magnetic field lines of the water molecules in our body will suddenly return to its original appearance. To put it in layman's terms, our body is equivalent to a bottle. The MRI is done by shaking the bottle of water by hand, then restoring the water in the bottle to its original form, and then continuing to observe the water. 03 — As for the reasons why many doctors do not recommend MRI, I have summarized the following points based on personal experience.
The cost of MRI is relatively expensive Compared to CT and X-rays, the cost of MRI is not a little higher. Seeing a doctor and treating people is a matter of labor and wealth, and having an illness is a big blow to many families. Doctors will generally still judge according to the actual situation, whether it is necessary for patients to do MRI, if there is no need to do it, it will certainly not open an MRI checklist, after all, it is indeed impossible to draw. Why is an MRI so expensive? Can't it be cheaper? It's really hard to be cheap, it's up to the device. First of all, a magnetic resonance device alone is several million, and the equipment also needs to add liquid nitrogen regularly, the price of this liquid nitrogen is also very expensive, generally adding liquid nitrogen once requires tens of thousands of yuan. In addition to these, there are also expenses that we can't see, such as labor costs, venue fees, and electricity bills.
Examination time is long like CT and other examination methods, generally within ten minutes can be completed. But magnetic resonances are different, and the time it takes tends to double. If the condition is not serious, doing MAGNETIC resonance is not much. But if the condition is critical, who has time to slowly do MRI there? The illness is like a fire, and it cannot be delayed for a moment.
Some diseases are not suitable for magnetic resonance examination, we all know the right medicine, and the examination is the same. Many organs have specific examination methods, not that one examination method can examine all organs. For example, gastrointestinal endoscopy cannot examine the lungs. The same is true for magnetic resonance, which works by using the resonance of hydrogen atoms in the patient's body and converting them into images for examination. So if there is no moisture in any part, then the magnetic resonance is of little use, such as the water content of the lungs and the heart is very small, and it is obviously not suitable for magnetic resonance examination.
Patients have metal substances in their bodies We all know that we cannot carry metal objects such as keys and mobile phones when doing magnetic resonance. However, some patients have heart stents and metal braces for certain disease reasons, which are also metal objects. What should I do if these items are placed in the body and cannot be taken away? Then you can only do NO MRI! If magnetic resonance imaging is forcibly done, it will affect the effect of the examination at the slightest, and threaten the safety of the patient's life. 04 — Having said all this, in fact, many people still have some misunderstandings about MRI, and I will explain to you in detail the following problems.
If you have done a stent, can you do MRI? Patients who have had vascular stent surgery can generally do MRI six months after surgery. However, the following types can not do magnetic resonance, you can look at it: pacemaker and heart bypass, insulin pump, artificial heart valves, aneurysm surgery and metal objects in the eyeball. If you still don't know if you can do it, be sure to explain your medical history with the doctor before the examination.
Can pregnant women and infants and young children do it? Absolutely! MRI has no radiation! This must be emphasized again. Moreover, pregnant women can diagnose the fetus as early as possible through magnetic resonance, and can also detect whether the fetus has malformations and other problems as early as possible, which can make a good basis for the next treatment. Infants and young children can also do it, which can be a good way to check whether infants and young children have central nervous system problems. However, it is best for infants to do it in a deep sleep, and prepare earplugs for children in advance so as not to cause discomfort or non-cooperation of infants and young children.
Can I do it with steel nails in my body? If it is an alloy material or artificial joint, as well as titanium and cobalt-chromium molybdenum alloy and other materials of implants, it is completely possible to do. This not only allows these joint prostheses to be evaluated, but also allows for the timely detection of the causes of postoperative pain. However, it should be noted that other materials, such as stainless steel, cannot be done. Therefore, be sure to explain the situation with the doctor before the examination.
Source: Listen to Dr. Lee