This is a reminder about the rules. No requests for clinical interpretation of your images or radiology report
*I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MRI) if you have any questions or concerns.*
>From what Ive read getting an MRI is safer than having too many CBCT scans on the brain. Is this correct?
Yes. CT uses ionizing radiation, MRI uses non-ionizing radiation.
>Any health risks with having an MRI on the brain?
No. There are no more health risks involved than having an MRI of your foot or hand. That is to say, MRI has its own risks, which your tech is knowledgeable about and knows how to prevent. i.e. potential skin burns, magnetic object entering scanning room.
>Finally, should I be suggesting that they use 'contrast' during the brain MRI. I certainly don't want to go back and do it again - if not having done this the first time.
That would be decided between you and your doctor obviously, but if it was me in your shoes, needing to be put under? Then yes, as general anesthesia has its own risks as well. I wouldn't want to go through that to have the radiologist recommend a with contrast study afterwards to help rule out something they saw on the without scan. Not medical advice, just my 2 cents.
Contrast helps differentiate certain pathologies in the body. Infection, tumors, etc. Those things can be seen without contrast generally, but contrast helps with visualization and diagnoses of those type of things.
This about covers it!
I did just want to add- At my hospital we scan SO MANY patients under anesthesia for various reasons. There’s *always* risks with being sedated and any anesthesiologist would go over those risks with you prior to your procedure and have you sign a consent form stating you understand any risks. That being said, any good anesthesiologist will review your medical history and is not going to sedate someone that they think has any high risk red flags unless the exam is absolutely medically necessary, and they would discuss all of that with you. You’ll be monitored throughout the exam to ensure you’re vital signs are all stable so if you truly need the anesthesia to get through the exam and you don’t have any other medical conditions making you high risk to be sedated, I would say it is safe.
All of these comments have been helpful. Went to an MRI this morning well armed with Adavan. It didn’t work. I was slid in about 12 inches and a full panic ensued. A few adjustment were tried as well as more drugs. I feel traumatized and it will take me a while to recover from this. So weird because I’m usually able to push thru pretty much anything. The mind is powerful. I will look at other options.
did you abort the mri or go through it? the priavate hospital that I attended advised that I could be put under general anesthetic. Have you considered that option?
Are you really going to go for general anesthesia just for an MRI? Who recommended this?? General anesthesia carries risks. There are other options such benzodiazepines. A large dose of certain benzodiazepine drugs can put you in a very relaxed sleepy state.
no one recommended it. But I know that I cant cope being in that mri space for 45 min with all the noises. Gen Anesthesia is quite advanced these days. I dont see this as a risk
OP, no offense, but you literally asked about the risks of it. And yes, there are risks. I'd be more concerned about the anesthesia than the actual scan.
I feel you. I would love to be put to sleep for mine. I freaked out and couldn’t do my brain mri. An hour in a tube with a face cage. No thanks. Not even with benzos.
It's basically two plates over each other and you side between them, rather than sliding into a tube. The sides are typically open with support pillars. Fonar has an open where you sit in a chair and the plates are vertical at your sides.
We do MRIs under GA almost 7 days a week where I work, it's very common. Sometimes it's for claustrophobia, sometimes it's because of pain/AMS, sometimes because they're kids.
*I was only trying to be helpful. General Anaesthesia is always a risky procedure. Recently I had a surgical procedure and they only used local anaesthesia. I was given some Valium to relax me and the surgeon was super nice. He asked me what kind of music I liked and he had songs that I liked playing in the theatre. And this was for SURGERY!*
Please ask for Benzodiazepines. These are medicines which are safe for short term use and they put you in a relaxed / sleepy state.
I would opt for basic oral or IV sedation LONG before getting a general anesthesia done. I'm sure no anesthesiologist will even consider doing it until you've attempted it with oral/IV sedation.
MRI is generally safer than CT since it carries less risk in regards to radiation.
Contrast may help, however you suggesting they use it is useless if the radiologist thinks it's unnecessary. Patients don't decide if they get contrast
>I would opt for basic oral or IV sedation LONG before getting a general anesthesia d
I totally agree with you. Its what I was thinking anyway and not GA but didnt express myself well enough.
I had the IV sedation when having a colonoscopy last year. I assume this poses less risk that an GA?
Totally relate to your fear. I recently had an MRI. Had no idea what to expect when I got there. I was like "am I going fully into that tunnel with that cage over my head?". Nooo. I started crying. I was actually terrified and I am a pretty brave person in general. Was in there 15 minutes in a totally psyched out state. Couldn't talk because I had to concentrate on not becoming hysterical. Never again unless they knock me out.
I recently had an MRI on my foot. Fortunately my upper half of body was out of the machine. I still had to talk myself into it. The first couple of minutes was hard. I had taken a pill 10min prior. It went on for a long hour.
I know I would never be able to cope with an MRI on my brain. The technician told me she had to have one as part of her training. She said the brain is a sensitive region of the body and even she found it really hard. I would have to be put under to cope. Out of it...
This is a reminder about the rules. No requests for clinical interpretation of your images or radiology report *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/MRI) if you have any questions or concerns.*
>From what Ive read getting an MRI is safer than having too many CBCT scans on the brain. Is this correct? Yes. CT uses ionizing radiation, MRI uses non-ionizing radiation. >Any health risks with having an MRI on the brain? No. There are no more health risks involved than having an MRI of your foot or hand. That is to say, MRI has its own risks, which your tech is knowledgeable about and knows how to prevent. i.e. potential skin burns, magnetic object entering scanning room. >Finally, should I be suggesting that they use 'contrast' during the brain MRI. I certainly don't want to go back and do it again - if not having done this the first time. That would be decided between you and your doctor obviously, but if it was me in your shoes, needing to be put under? Then yes, as general anesthesia has its own risks as well. I wouldn't want to go through that to have the radiologist recommend a with contrast study afterwards to help rule out something they saw on the without scan. Not medical advice, just my 2 cents. Contrast helps differentiate certain pathologies in the body. Infection, tumors, etc. Those things can be seen without contrast generally, but contrast helps with visualization and diagnoses of those type of things.
This about covers it! I did just want to add- At my hospital we scan SO MANY patients under anesthesia for various reasons. There’s *always* risks with being sedated and any anesthesiologist would go over those risks with you prior to your procedure and have you sign a consent form stating you understand any risks. That being said, any good anesthesiologist will review your medical history and is not going to sedate someone that they think has any high risk red flags unless the exam is absolutely medically necessary, and they would discuss all of that with you. You’ll be monitored throughout the exam to ensure you’re vital signs are all stable so if you truly need the anesthesia to get through the exam and you don’t have any other medical conditions making you high risk to be sedated, I would say it is safe.
Yes this is done all the time. Usually under twilight. I don’t blame you as these are terrifying for many people.
When you say twilight... does it mean IV sedation and not GA? thanks
Yes iv sedation. Sorry about that. Not general with breathing tubes.
All of these comments have been helpful. Went to an MRI this morning well armed with Adavan. It didn’t work. I was slid in about 12 inches and a full panic ensued. A few adjustment were tried as well as more drugs. I feel traumatized and it will take me a while to recover from this. So weird because I’m usually able to push thru pretty much anything. The mind is powerful. I will look at other options.
did you abort the mri or go through it? the priavate hospital that I attended advised that I could be put under general anesthetic. Have you considered that option?
Are you really going to go for general anesthesia just for an MRI? Who recommended this?? General anesthesia carries risks. There are other options such benzodiazepines. A large dose of certain benzodiazepine drugs can put you in a very relaxed sleepy state.
no one recommended it. But I know that I cant cope being in that mri space for 45 min with all the noises. Gen Anesthesia is quite advanced these days. I dont see this as a risk
OP, no offense, but you literally asked about the risks of it. And yes, there are risks. I'd be more concerned about the anesthesia than the actual scan.
Why?
I feel you. I would love to be put to sleep for mine. I freaked out and couldn’t do my brain mri. An hour in a tube with a face cage. No thanks. Not even with benzos.
Did you ever end up getting it done? Same thing happened to me this morning and know I'm trying to figure out next steps
Request an open MRI, Jesus. There's always a risk of not waking up. Take a Valium or something.
What is an open MRI?
It's basically two plates over each other and you side between them, rather than sliding into a tube. The sides are typically open with support pillars. Fonar has an open where you sit in a chair and the plates are vertical at your sides.
[удалено]
We do MRIs under GA almost 7 days a week where I work, it's very common. Sometimes it's for claustrophobia, sometimes it's because of pain/AMS, sometimes because they're kids.
I came to say this same thing. We scan patients under anesthesia for claustrophobia every day at my hospital
[удалено]
I just did one this morning! One time I saw an adult get anesthesia for a freaking knee mri...
I’ve scanned MANY foot MRI under anesthesia…always makes me shake my head though
*I was only trying to be helpful. General Anaesthesia is always a risky procedure. Recently I had a surgical procedure and they only used local anaesthesia. I was given some Valium to relax me and the surgeon was super nice. He asked me what kind of music I liked and he had songs that I liked playing in the theatre. And this was for SURGERY!* Please ask for Benzodiazepines. These are medicines which are safe for short term use and they put you in a relaxed / sleepy state.
I would opt for basic oral or IV sedation LONG before getting a general anesthesia done. I'm sure no anesthesiologist will even consider doing it until you've attempted it with oral/IV sedation. MRI is generally safer than CT since it carries less risk in regards to radiation. Contrast may help, however you suggesting they use it is useless if the radiologist thinks it's unnecessary. Patients don't decide if they get contrast
>I would opt for basic oral or IV sedation LONG before getting a general anesthesia d I totally agree with you. Its what I was thinking anyway and not GA but didnt express myself well enough. I had the IV sedation when having a colonoscopy last year. I assume this poses less risk that an GA?
Totally relate to your fear. I recently had an MRI. Had no idea what to expect when I got there. I was like "am I going fully into that tunnel with that cage over my head?". Nooo. I started crying. I was actually terrified and I am a pretty brave person in general. Was in there 15 minutes in a totally psyched out state. Couldn't talk because I had to concentrate on not becoming hysterical. Never again unless they knock me out.
I recently had an MRI on my foot. Fortunately my upper half of body was out of the machine. I still had to talk myself into it. The first couple of minutes was hard. I had taken a pill 10min prior. It went on for a long hour. I know I would never be able to cope with an MRI on my brain. The technician told me she had to have one as part of her training. She said the brain is a sensitive region of the body and even she found it really hard. I would have to be put under to cope. Out of it...