Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to D L Renfrew.
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Per anal balloon dilatation of a sigmoid colon stricture caused by necrotizing enterocolitis allowed identification of a more proximal lesion which would otherwise have gone radiographically undetected. Repeated dilatations at two weeks and four weeks following the initial dilatation of the stricture resulted in relief of the stricture and obviated the need for surgical treatment of this lesion.
Fractures of the anterior process of the calcaneus are often missed. This error follows from the tendency to focus exclusively on the mortise and malleoli when a history of ankle trauma is supplied. Seven patients with this fracture are presented. The anatomy, mechanism of injury, clinical presentation, and the radiographic features of this injury are discussed.
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We prospectively evaluated 316 caudal-approach epidural steroid injections given by staff radiologists and residents in our department over a 1-year period. Needle placement was checked with fluoroscopy and corrected if necessary. When the needle tip was within the sacral canal, nonionic contrast material was injected. If epidural contrast was not observed, the needle tip was repositioned. Of 111 procedures performed by physicians who had given fewer than 10 epidural steroid injections, 53 (47.7%) resulted in correct nonfluoroscopically directed placement of the needle. For physicians who had performed between 10 and 50 such procedures, 62 (53.4%) of 116 had correct nonfluoroscopically directed placement. For staff physicians, 55 (61.7%) of 89 placements were correct. Even when the sacral hiatus was easily palpated and a staff physician was confident that he or she was within the epidural space, fluoroscopy revealed incorrect placement 14.2% of the time (seven of 49 procedures). In addition, when the needle was positioned within the sacral canal and no blood was evident on Valsalva maneuver or aspiration, the injection was venous in 29 of 316 procedures (9.2%). The presence of blood on the needle stylus was not a reliable indicator of venous placement of the needle. Our findings indicate that fluoroscopy is essential for correct placement of epidural steroid injection. Contrast administration is necessary to avoid venous injection of steroids.
Interventional procedures constitute a significant proportion of musculoskeletal radiology. Percutaneous needle biopsy is the ultimate diagnostic technique for the evaluation of musculoskeletal neoplasms and infections. The procedure is accurate, rapid, and safe. It is ideally suited for the diagnosis of metastatic disease and round cell neoplasms. Several needle procedures have been used for the diagnosis and treatment of low back pain. Diskography is primarily a diagnostic test used to determine the symptomatic disk level when multilevel disk disease is present and also to diagnose internal disk disruption. Nerve block with local anesthetic is also used to locate the symptomatic level in patients with multilevel abnormalities. Epidural steroid injection is a therapeutic procedure that commonly is used in patients with low back pain and has been shown to be most effective in patients with disk herniation. Facet joint injection with local anesthetic and steroid is performed to diagnose and treat the facet syndrome. Other needle procedures in the musculoskeletal system include sacroiliac joint aspiration and injection, prosthetic joint aspiration to evaluate potential infection, distention arthrography, and injections of the coccyx for coccydynia.