12/04/2020
MRI before PT ➡️ Increased likelihood of surgery, higher chance of opioid prescription and higher costs!
Skilled PT evaluation should be the first step in getting back to health 👊🏼🩺🏋🏽
What harm can early utilization of an MRI cause when someone is dealing with low back pain? Even if red flags are ruled out and it isn’t necessary, it doesn’t hurt to take a look does it?
Thanks to this retrospective study performed within the US Dept of Veteran Affairs we find many downstream consequences when performing an MRI within 6 weeks for individuals dealing with nonspecific low back pain without any red flags present.
The results showed that individuals who received an early MRI were 13x more likely to have a lumbar surgery, had on average a 20% higher rate of opioid prescription, and had approximately $2500 more costs associated with their total care.
Despite the higher rate of opioid prescription and early knowledge, this study also reported that individuals who received early imaging were more likely to have worse pain and outcomes in the follow up period.
So not only are MRI images often unnecessary, they can be involved with increased harms. Ensure you do yourself and your patients a favor by firmly educating them on whether or not an MRI is appropriate or needed when dealing with musculoskeletal back pain.
👬Know someone who might find this helpful? Tag or share!
