The effective dose of a computerized tomographic scan of the shoulder is 2.06 mSv. It has been pointed out that "computerized tomographic imaging of the spine or other anatomic structures in close proximity to the axial skeleton such as the shoulders, hips, or pelvis may subject the patient to significantly greater quantities of ionizing radiation. "
For these two reasons we avoid the routine use of CT scans before shoulder arthroplasty, instead relying on properly done AP and Axillary views.
Sometimes patients come to us with CT scans performed elsewhere, giving us the chance to see if additional information could be gained from them.
A recent example:
Here's the preop axillary view we obtained. It clearly shows a Walch B2 glenoid.
Here is the CT scan from elsewhere showing the same.
We performed a ream and run procedure on this shoulder. Two years later the patient rated his shoulder as 12/12 on the SST and had the axillary x-ray shown below - showing the conversion of the biconcave glenoid to a single stable concavity.
Our practice is to obtain CT scans only on the rare shoulder where the anatomy is not evident from plain films.
----
If you have suggestions for topics you'd like us to address in this blog, please send an email to
Use the "Search the Blog" box to the right to find other topics of interest to you.
You may be interested in some of our most visited web pages including:shoulder arthritis, total shoulder, ream and run, reverse total shoulder, CTA arthroplasty, and rotator cuff surgery.
You may be interested in some of our most visited web pages including:shoulder arthritis, total shoulder, ream and run, reverse total shoulder, CTA arthroplasty, and rotator cuff surgery.
