A patient that tests my patience (longish)

[manybellsdown]

Hey, slightly OT question here; I had open heart surgery at a very young age, back in the 70's. I have metal pins in my sternum and thus can't have an MRI. Should I have a med-alert bracelet for something like that, or would it be obvious, were I incapacitated, because of the large scar on my chest?

I always worry that I might be given one while unconscious or otherwise incapacitated from an accident.

[jedimaster91]

But I have to agree with MoonCat. I bet she had an x-ray done and thought it was an MRI.

Or a CT. To the layperson, the machines look similar.

Hey, slightly OT question here; I had open heart surgery at a very young age, back in the 70's. I have metal pins in my sternum and thus can't have an MRI. Should I have a med-alert bracelet for something like that, or would it be obvious, were I incapacitated, because of the large scar on my chest?

I always worry that I might be given one while unconscious or otherwise incapacitated from an accident.

I don't know about a med alert bracelet, but definitely add that info to your medication list and keep it in your wallet. Have a chat with your doc to see what he recommends in the event you don't have your wallet with you for whatever reason.

Because of the nature of MRI, I don't think a physician would order one without being absolutely positive it would be safe for the patient. Those metal pins will show up on X-ray, which is usually the first step in determining what's going on.

[Sapphire Silk]

Hey, slightly OT question here; I had open heart surgery at a very young age, back in the 70's. I have metal pins in my sternum and thus can't have an MRI. Should I have a med-alert bracelet for something like that, or would it be obvious, were I incapacitated, because of the large scar on my chest?

I always worry that I might be given one while unconscious or otherwise incapacitated from an accident.

MRIs are not usually done as emergent procedures. CT's are; they're quicker.

Ask your doc about the medic alert bracelet. The scar is a giveaway, but I don't know it needs to be on a bracelet. It should be on a medical history though, on an index card you carry in your wallet.

[MergedLoki]

Is there an open MRI in your area? That might be a good option for that lady.

.

No, far as I know there isn't an open MRI anywhere remotely near here.

Open mri's, while good for patients who are claustrophobic etc. give total and utter crap for image quality (when compared to a 'closed' mri (i.e. long tube)). It's the same reason the area for patients is so small. The larger the area for a patient the worse image quality we get. So it's all a trade off of, how small can we make this so most people can fit in fine vs. quality of images the scanner gets.

honestly the medication before hand works fine. I've seen patients who were having full blown panic attacks come back a week later with some meds from their dr's and have no problems getting the scan done the 2nd time.

[MergedLoki]

Hey, slightly OT question here; I had open heart surgery at a very young age, back in the 70's. I have metal pins in my sternum and thus can't have an MRI. Should I have a med-alert bracelet for something like that, or would it be obvious, were I incapacitated, because of the large scar on my chest?

I always worry that I might be given one while unconscious or otherwise incapacitated from an accident.

Pins in your sternum shouldn't exclude you from an MRI. As they are firmly anchored in bone and aren't going anywhere. Now the TYPE of heart surgery you had can. (i.e. pacemakers are a no go. pacemaker = no mri for you) and various other implants mean you can never have an MRI.

Also you shouldn't ever be given an MRI unless you are coherent and concious enough to answer the lengthy questions that are gone through with every patient. OR if you are out of it or incapable of answering the questions a family member who knows your medical history will answer in your place.

As there is far too much that can go wrong if a patients medical/surgical history is not completely known therefore if there's even a chance we are unsure if a patient has a non-mri safe implant or something of that nature we will not scan them.