THE USE OF MAGNETIC RESONANCE IMAGING OF THE SHOULDER IN THE OUTPATIENT SETTING

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) continues to become more widely accessible as an investigation, with an increasing number of scans being performed in the outpatient setting for suspected shoulder pathology. We performed a retrospective review of all shoulder MRI scans performed in an orthopaedic outpatient setting in a district general hospital between October 2010 and October 2011. We also reviewed the medical notes for these patients. 75 MRI Shoulder scans were performed on 74 patients. In 5 cases (7%), no other form of imaging was performed prior to MRI scan. 11 patients (15%) had no provisional diagnosis included in the referral. The nature of referral, indication for MRI and subsequent management of these patients was also examined. Our findings may support the use of guidelines for requesting MRI scans of the shoulder in outpatients.