Introduction
Magnetic resonance imaging is a harmless method to get a good view of the abdomen without the need for surgery. An MRI examination of the abdomen (also known as an abdominal MRI) is always performed when other imaging techniques have not provided decisive indications of the cause of the triggering symptoms. As a rule, abdominal imaging is always necessary if the patient reports complaints such as pain or chronic diarrhea, or if a structure was seen in previous imaging that could not be assigned and assessed.
Duration of an MRT examination
A major disadvantage, apart from the high costs of an MRI examination, is the length of treatment. While an X-ray or CT examination only takes a few minutes, an MRI examination can take many times as long. Here, too, the decisive factor is which body region is examined.
An MRI examination of a shoulder will take about 15 to 25 minutes, whereas an examination of a spine can take as little as 30 to 40 minutes. One circumstance that makes many examinations more difficult is when patients suffer from claustrophobia. Thus, due to the narrowness of the device, it may sometimes be necessary to give the patient a short-acting sedative until the MRI examination has been performed. An MRT for claustrophobia is therefore still possible.
Do you have to be sober?
You don’t have to be sober for every MRT examination. It depends mainly on which part of the abdomen is being examined with an MRI. If stomach or intestine is examined, the patient has to be fasting to avoid that residues of food are seen in the MRI, which can lead to overlapping in the final image.
Furthermore, after previous food intake, an intestine is always covered with air, for example, which can also lead to dazzling effects in the image. When examining the liver, the bladder or the kidneys, the patient does not necessarily have to be fasting. It is therefore possible to perform an MRI of the kidney even if the patient has normal eating habits. If the patient is advised to fast, it is sufficient not to eat or drink for at least four hours before. After the MRI examination, the patient can eat again immediately.
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