Arthrography
Arthrograms may be of interest to you if you have joint (shoulder, wrist, hip, knee or ankle) pain or discomfort.
What are the anticipated benefits?
An Arthrogram is really a diagnostic test, meaning its purpose is to help see what is going on inside your joint to help your doctor determine the best treatment option. It is not intended to stop the pain. If the nature of the injury is not clear, usually an MRI or CT scan will follow this injection for a complete diagnosis to verify the cause of your pain.
How does it work?
An Arthrogram takes 45 minutes to an hour.
You will be positioned on a special table in our Diagnostic and Therapeutic Injections (DTI) suite. The C-arm (a special x-ray machine) can be rotated to allow the radiologist to monitor the injection to make sure he is precise in targeting the pain source. In addition, the table can be easily rotated to help the contrast dye move to the area of interest.
Our radiologist will insert a needle into the joint to inject the contrast material and may ask you to move the joint to better distribute the contrast. Then, he will take still images of the joint in various positions, monitoring how the dye disperses to see if it is contained or leaking, which indicates the stability and integrity of the joint and reveals cartilage tears and other injuries.
Our radiologist will review the images and provide the doctor who referred you to us with a detailed report, including images. This report, along with any other relevant information or tests, will assist your doctor in determining the best treatment plan for you.
Are there any risks or negative side affects?
Complication rates with Arthrograms are very low.
As with all injection procedures, the contrast dye contains iodine, so patients with a known allergy to iodine may have an adverse reaction. However, because the contrast is injected into a joint and not a vein, allergic reactions are rare.
Women should always inform their physician or CDI technologist if there is any possibility that they are pregnant or breast feeding.