Bone scan : a useful test for evaluating patients with low back pain

• Published in: Skeletal radiology 1990-01, Vol.19 (4), p.267-270
• Main Authors: COLLIER, B. D, KEMAL METIN KIR, MILLS, B. J. A, PATEL, N. C, POCHIS, W. T, ONSEL, C, YU LIU, TUROGLU, H. T
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adult; Back Pain - etiology; Biological and medical sciences; Bone and Bones - diagnostic imaging; Bone Neoplasms - complications; Bone Neoplasms - diagnostic imaging; Bone Neoplasms - secondary; Diseases of the osteoarticular system; Diseases of the spine; Female; Humans; Male; Medical sciences; Middle Aged; Technetium Tc 99m Medronate; Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon
• ISSN: 0364-2348; 1432-2161
• DOI: 10.1007/BF00191669

For many years it has been known that the sensitivity of bone scanning to the presence of destructive bony lesions favors its use in screening for bone metastases and osteomyelitis. More recently bone scanning has been routinely employed in evaluating benign skeletal pathology that may be the cause of low back pain. Bone scanning can play an important part in (1) identifying the cause of pain, (2) clarifying the significance of radiographic findings, and (3) evaluating the results of spinal surgery. This expansion of the role of nuclear medicine in diagnosing and managing low back pain is based in part upon novel diagnostic applications of 99mTc-methylene diphosphonate, a radiopharmaceutical that has been available for over 15 years. Equally important for this development, however, has been the recent availability of SPECT, a tomographic imaging technique that can be used to display the spine in a series of 6- to 8-mm thick sections. Slightly more than one-half of newly purchased gamma cameras are rotating systems suitable for bone SPECT studies. Thus, many community hospitals can now perform state-of-the-art bone scans for low back pain.