Dan "threw out his back" after lifting heavy furniture and complained of pain radiating down the back of his right leg. Use anat
omical terminology to describe the body regions where the injury occurred and where Dan experienced pain. Which imaging technique would you prescribe to diagnose a spinal problem? Explain your choice.
1 answer:
Answer:
When Dan "threw out his back", the anatomical terminology regions where the injury occurred corresponds to the lumbar segment of the spine, affecting the sciatic nerve and causing pain referred to the posterior face of the lower right limb. The imaging technique that could be used for diagnostics is nuclear magnetic resonance imaging.
Explanation:
One of the consequences of physical exertion - such as lifting heavy objects - is lower back injury, which can range from painful muscle contraction, muscle tearing, or inter-vertebral disc injuries in the lumbar spine.
In Dan's case, the effort to lift the furniture may have caused:
- Protrusion of the disc that lies between two vertebrae, called a herniated disc.
- Lumbar disc hernias can cause compression of the sciatic nerve.
- Sciatic nerve injuries produce a number of symptoms such as pain or neurological disorders - such as tingling, numbness, painful current, among others - in the territory of that nerve.
- Dan experiences pain in the back of the right lower limb, where the affected sciatic nerve passes.
The best imaging study to show that this lesion has occurred and diagnose a spinal problem is the magnetic resonance imaging, which allows to observe both the bone structures and the soft tissue (cartilage, muscle) of the affected area.
The X-rays only allow to see the structures of the bones, useful to diagnose fractures, deformities or structural alteration, but they do not show the state of the ligaments, inter-vertebral discs or muscle.
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