harrington rod and mri

[jawhite]

I have a Harrington Rod  in my spine providing support from two operations done in 1976-77 for corrective scoliosis and kiphosis.  Would this present any problem for an MRI test?


This discussion is related to mri safety for harrington rod.

[paceygirl]

I have had Mri and ct scans since my harrington rods were put in. They had 2 mri machines at my hospital (one for people with metal in them and one other that was not ok to use). They can do them but as previous person said it warms you a little. My temp went up by 3 degrees in 15 mins in the machine.
They can take the scans but the results will be a little hazed (bright and white) out from the metal.

[ericarasm]

Hi there,
I had an MRI done of my liver but I have a herrington rod in my back from scoliosis surgery in 1978. They told me that I wouldn't notice anything from the MRI but when I was under the MRI table, I felt the rod heat up. It freaked me out, because I was told
that I wouldn't feel anything. They told me that it wouldn't hurt me so I continued
with the MRI. After the initial feeling of it heating up, I was fine and it didn't do anything
after that. I didn't have a problem with my back. The rod has so much tissue built around it that it can't hurt it. But I wish they would have told me this was a possibility that it could happen, they didn't know. Maybe most people don't feel it heating up. But I also heard that if you want an MRI of your back, you won't be able to see the image very well where the rod is placed, so if that's true why do it.
erica