Number of Lumbar Spine MRIs Questioned (Orthopedics This Week)
Family physicians are ordering too many lumbar spine MRI scans, according to a Canadian study reported March 26 by Crystal Phend, senior staff writer for MedPage Today. Only 34% of lower back scans ordered by family physicians were considered appropriate compared with 58% ordered by physicians in other specialties. Derek Emery, M.D. and his colleagues at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, found that when MRIs were analyzed by an expert panel, 29% of the MRI referrals to two large teaching hospitals were deemed inappropriate and...
