RNS, Back Pain, March, 2005
1:38
http://www.med.umich.edu/opm/newspage/2005/hmspine.htm
Discovering the source of back pain
Suggested Lead— EMG testing can provide answers that MRI can't. Expert says both kinds of tests have their strengths, and a current study at U-M is looking at the MRI scan and EMG test to find out which one is better at identifying the source of back pain. Here is Erin Block with more.
The majority of people's back problems are caused by muscles and bones and ligaments stretching around. Other more serious problems come from disk herniations or spinal stenosis where the patient ends up with nerve damage to the area. The MRI has become a very common tool used to diagnose the cause of back pain, but it may not be the best tool when patients come in with nerve disease.
Dr. Andrew Haig, M.D., associate professor in the Department of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation at the University of Michigan Health System describes the differences between the MRI and the EMG test.
“An MRI is a photograph—it's like a picture of your car. And if you look at a photograph of a car, you can see dents and bumps and bruises and rust. It's not a test of whether that car works for you. And EMG is a test of the physiology; it's like putting a key in your car and seeing whether the engine works and seeing whether the radio plays. So we know that people who don't have any symptoms have bumps and dents and bruises and rust and yet, they don't have any problems at all. An EMG will ‘is there really nerve damage or not,' and this test is unique because it can really show this very well.”
The EMG involves putting a needle into a patient's muscles and listening to the messages the brain sends to the muscles.
Haig's current study at U-M is looking at the MRI scan and EMG test to find out which one really fits better in relationship to back pain. The study will be completed soon.
So what will this mean for physicians and patients? Haig says,
“The EMG is really going to help doctors to avoid unnecessary surgery and unnecessary injections because it's going to prove to them that there is nerve damage in the people who clearly have it. The only way you can really be sure that the nerves are damaged, and the only way you can really be sure it's due to a back problem instead of a nerve illness, is to do some EMG testing.”
Erin Block, U-M Health System News. |
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