Can I have an MRI after a TKR

Posted , 4 users are following.

I had my TKR in September and it has not been recovering well. I had an ultrasound in late November that listed a bunch of issues with the knee and suggested an MRI for the knee. But I wanted to wait and see if the knee would improve, but it has not. I called about an MRI today and they said that the metal in the knee would blur the image and make it useless. I have not heard this, so I wanted to see if anyone else has had an MRI on their TKR.

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • Posted

    If you google this question, it does indicate that the metal implant could distort the image. My surgeon always looks at a x-ray and when I was having some issues with long lasting pain, was sent for a nerve conduction test to make sure that was not the issue. You don't indicate what the issues are, or who recommended the MRI. If it wasn't your surgeon, I would suggest contacting them for a follow up visit to confirm.

  • Posted

    If you google this question, it does indicate that the metal implant could distort the image. My surgeon always looks at a x-ray and when I was having some issues with long lasting pain, was sent for a nerve conduction test to make sure that was not the issue. You don't indicate what the issues are, or who recommended the MRI. If it wasn't your surgeon, I would suggest contacting them for a follow up visit to confirm.

    • Posted

      They did not do an x-ray at my final review ( 3mos). I had an ultrasound from my doctor, that mentioned a plethora of issues, but I don't know what's standard and what's out of the ordinary. The ultrasound did suggest an x-ray for areas that the ultrasound could not reach.

      My knee was good the first month, but then stiffened up and never got better. My knee is worse now than before the surgery, I have never been able to straighten it, even immediately after the surgery. The physiotherapists were really focused on this issue, which just aggravated the knee and did not improve the straightening much.

      I made the surgeon aware of theses issues at my review and they had the ultrasound results, but they just blew me off and told me to come back in 9 months.

  • Posted

    I googled and it seems it can be done with the newer machines. They might need to adjust the pulse sequences and other parameters.

  • Posted

    To a certain extent, that is true. However a friend of mine had MRI after her TKR, and it wasn't clear, BUT showed the problem well enough to the surgeon, to know what to do to fix her problem. Good luck

  • Posted

    Thanks, I was tempted to try another location, but don't want to waste my $s.

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