Internal Fixators & MRI

[Lizzie - UK]

Re the above subject - how do they work together?  Aren't internal fixators a form of metal?  Surely you cannot have MRI's with any form of metal in your body! 

I'm interested to know what happens. 

[nellypurple]

Hi
I have just had a MRI and that was an experience in itself that no-one warned me about!! Metal is definitely a no-no so I don't know how they get round that one, they even wanted to know if I had any tatoos!! What was that about?
What hosp are you under? I am at St Georges  Tooting, awaiting to see knee specialist this month.I see you are in W. London.

[heather k from wales]

I have quite a few titanium screws and bone staples and there was no problem with the MRI.  The image is just a bit fuzzy around the metalwork.  Normal metal which is picked up by a magnet is a definate NO NO, so its off with all the jewelrey and watches and definatley no money or clothes with metal zips, poppers or buttons!, but the type which isnt sensitive to magnets like stainless steel and titanium are fine.
Not 100% sure on this, but I've has 2 MRI's in the last year with the metalwork in my leg and no problem with the MRI's!.

Heather

[Lizzie - UK]

What hosp are you under? I am at St Georges  Tooting, awaiting to see knee specialist this month.I see you are in W. London.

I'm now under the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, Middlesex.  It is apparently the best specialised hospital for orthopaedics in the UK!  The OS I am seeing is Mr Tim Briggs.  He specialises in Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation - cartilage transplantation.  He is very nice.  Very open and rather a charmer!

I'm just waiting for an MRI.  Although I am 99% sure that when I had my knee aspirated last year that they broke the needle and there is still parts of the needle still in my knee.  I don't want to have to wait 22 weeks for this MRI and find out that I can't have it, especially as I have private insurance.  The only thing that is holding me back is the MRI, which my private insurance will not cover.

[Lizzie - UK]

Heather

Thank you sooooo much for your kind reassurance.  I think that I am/was getting myself wound up about the part of needle that is still in my knee.  It would only be a very small piece of needle, but I was just scared that it might do something weird to my knee, whilst I was in the MRI machine.

I think that the more you have things done, the worse you can get.  You know what to expect.  I hate having MRI's now.  At first, they didn't bother me, but now, they really make me scared.  I don't like that loud noise!!

I must try and calm down and just let them do it.  I have got to give the MRI centre another call to provisionally book a date.  They promised to call me back on Friday, but no-one ever seems to do as they say these days!! 

Thank you once again for your support.

With much love ... Lizzie xx

[KJ]

Like you I have a knee full of metal (12 bits including screws for 3 reconstructions and staples for osteotomy).
My very experienced London surgeon did not think an MRI would be a problem to look at the medial side of my knee last year but the scan was unfortuantely totally unreadable and I ended up with another arthroscopy

It also depends on the strength of the magnet in the scanner.

So sometimes you just can't tell whether it will work or not
KJ

[Lizzie - UK]

Thank you everybody for putting my mind at rest.  I don't care about the quality.  I just didn't want to go through any kind of pain, or discomfort.  I'll call the MRI centre first thing tomorrow to get an appointment.

Thank you guys - you are truly the best people around to have. 

Love you guys to bits... Lizzie xx

[Leentje]

You can have MRIs when you have screws, staples, plates, pins, nails, prosthesis etc but they have to be anchored IN the bones!!!!! If they are only in soft tissue (like morphine pumps, insuline pumps, pace-makers etc...)they might loosen and anyone knows what can happen then ... The images can indeed be fuzzy around the area where the metal was inserted but normally this is only minor.

I had an MIR post TTT no problems whatsoever. Just don't think about it, the MRI people know what they are doing, will ask you questions (don't wear jewelery...). The reason they asked for the tatoo is that some kinds of polish, make-up and tatoo paint can contain little metal particels that might change the images. Make up you can remove, tatoos not (hehe) but they change the MRI machine settings.

Hope this helps.

Helena

[nick157]

What hosp are you under? I am at St Georges  Tooting, awaiting to see knee specialist this month.I see you are in W. London.

I'm now under the Royal National Orthopaedic Hospital in Stanmore, Middlesex.  It is apparently the best specialised hospital for orthopaedics in the UK!  The OS I am seeing is Mr Tim Briggs.  He specialises in Autologous Chondrocyte Implantation - cartilage transplantation.  He is very nice.  Very open and rather a charmer!

I'm just waiting for an MRI.  Although I am 99% sure that when I had my knee aspirated last year that they broke the needle and there is still parts of the needle still in my knee.  I don't want to have to wait 22 weeks for this MRI and find out that I can't have it, especially as I have private insurance.  The only thing that is holding me back is the MRI, which my private insurance will not cover.

Lizzie,

I had my ACL repaired four and a half weeks ago by Tim. He certainly gets straight to the point doesn't he! 

[ProfLiebstrom]

I always had images of if you had metal inside you and you go for an MRI of them flying out and ripping your skin and flesh.......so they jsut make the image unreadable?

[soccerdoc]

The quality of the image depends on the magnet and the software.  I still have the hardware from my HTO and had an MRI to r/o a tear in the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus.  The images were quite good.

Jim

[tony38]

This site really is a treasure chest of info. I have hardware in my knees holding my 10 pc fractured patella. The fragments are not fusing together and my OS is going back in to remove the little bits out. I have not asked my OS, but I think he has necrosis on his mind. He's not very open and I am looking around for a second opinion.
I have read that X-rays would not show early necrosis but MRI's or a CT scan would.
I did not consider asking for an MRI because of my hardware, but would definitely ask for one now.   
It is true, that only ferrous metals react to magnetism, and they definitely would not put in anything of the sort inside someone's body.
The tattoo part I heard as an urban legend that the metal elements in the ink causes the tattoo to rash violently, but have never personally verified it as true.
Thanks a lot eveyone for the information, I'm really glad to learn these.