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Your Daily Posterous Spaces Update November 4th, 2011 Education to

Avoid Harm <http://ptmanagerblog.com/education-to-avoid-harm>

Posted about 22 hours ago by [image: _portrait_thumb] Kovacek,

PT, DPT, MSA <http://posterous.com/users/1l1oCkDWEWjv> to

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Education to Avoid

Harm<http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/EvidenceInMotion/~3/D1PSfGEGnUg/education-to\

-avoid-harm.html>

[image: JOSPT 2011]Kudos to the team at JOSPT <http://www.jospt.org/> and

the just released November Special issue on the topics surrounding the use

of MRI in musculoskeletal care. Led by Guest Editor Dr. Jim Elliott this

issue is a must read for physical therapists practicing in musculoskeletal

care. It is well known that appropriate use of imaging can be invaluable

in low back pain management particularly for determining serious pathology.

Unfortunately, the alarming over utilization of this technology can have

serious consequences to the patient including increasing referrals, drugs,

surgical rates and decreased perception of health. An image is extremely

powerful. I have noticed that when I look in the mirror I have more

wrinkles on my forehead, is this serious? Is this normal? It sure looks

serious! We frequently see patients that have been harmed by the scary

stories of what their MRI looks like. When examining these patients it is

helpful to have examples to counteract this. The above paper provides some

examples to use in the clinic.

The overutilization of imaging extends well beyond low back pain. I

encourage the blog readers to also check out the recent

article<http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/29/health/mris-often-overused-often-misle\

ad-doctors-warn.html>in

the NY Times where the renowned surgeon Dr. s described

the

MRI of 31 professional baseball pitchers who were not injured and had no

pain. But the M.R.I.’s found abnormal shoulder cartilage in 90 percent of

them and abnormal rotator cuff tendons in 87 percent. “If you want an

excuse to operate on a pitcher’s throwing shoulder, just get an

M.R.I.,” says s.

Yes this all sounds good... but the wrinkles are still bothering me.

Tim

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MyPhysicalTherapySpace.com by Tim Flynn, PT, PhD November 3, 2011 7:45 AM

Kovacek, PT, MSA, DPT

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