MRI for inflammation

[nogutsnoglory]

GI ordered an MRI to see the extent of inflammation and stricture for me. Till now I have always had a ct scan or small bowel follow though x ray.

Anyone had an MRI for abdomen and pelvis? How effective is it? How long will I be in the machine?

 

[rygon]

Try the wiki page for this http://www.crohnsforum.com/wiki/MRI

tells you what it does and has videos of what its like

I had one done and the woorst part was no food/water for 4hrs (especially when you wait in a hot room, then get delayed for 2 hrs .. no water yet you know they will give you 1ltr prep before hand grrrr ... rant over)

 

[DustyKat]

I think an enterogram, via CT or MR, would be better at visualising the extent of inflammation in your small bowel than a standard MRI.

Dusty. xxx

 

[Sonny]

:sign0144: Recently my GI had me get an MRI enterography for pain in my lower right abdomen. I couldn't eat or drink anything after midnight before the MRI which was scheduled for 1 p.m. the next day. They had me drink a couple bottles of barium sulfate (much easier to drink than moviprep) for an hour before the actual procedure and then set me up. It lasts about 25-35 minutes as long as the barium 'coats everything well enough.' The procedure's pretty damn effective too as it gives a clear indication of what's going on inside. Unfortunately I got the news that I had an abscess my GI hadn't seen during my colonoscopy.

 

[ThatsWhatSheSaid]

What?? How did your GI miss an abscess during a colonoscopy? Where was it? What issues were you having that spurred them to do that procedure? Just the pain in the lower right abdomen? It can be so frustrating sometimes. Better late than never I suppose. What's your course of action now?

 

[DustyKat]

If the abscess is say intra abdominal they won't see it because it is outside the bowel.

Dusty. xxx

 

[ThatsWhatSheSaid]

Thanks Dusty! Is it possible to have something like that when the crohns is theoretically under control? (ie, the doctor only saw mild inflammation in the colon two weeks ago) Or is it more a part of really mucked up intestines?

I'm just having a lot of pain that my GI does not think is explained by the crohns due to the EGD and colonoscopy two weeks ago. He said it did not look severe enough for all of my issues, especially the pain and extra-intestinal issues (joint pain, mouth sores, etc). I of course disagree. My fiance and mom think I need to see another doctor and they're probably right. I really like this guy's take on medicine and having an integrated approach, but I kind of feel like we've reached a point where he has concluded my issues are stress related (because he knows I have panic disorder) and without jarring visual proof he is dissuaded from thinking the cause is the crohns. It is very frustrating. Sorry to hijack the thread!!

 

[DustyKat]

It could be possible...

In my son's case he had a colonoscopy on the 1st of December 2010, he was diagnosed with Crohn's and his inflammation was rated at mild to very mild. His Crohn's is in his Terminal Ileum and at the time the GI did not want to push through the inflammation so he had an CTE the next day to gauge the extent of the inflammation, it turned out he had 100mm of bowel affected and no other abnormalities were seen. So he was immediately commenced on Prednisone, Flagyl and Imuran. Over the next two and half weeks he developed increasing pain and a limp...he had three hospital admissions and it culminated in him requiring surgery the following April. His symptoms at diagnosis were next to non existent, his inflammation was mild to very mild, he was commenced on meds immediately but he still developed a micro perforation, fistula and abscess...the point being it only takes one deep ulcer to cause all this.

Dusty. xxx

 

[ThatsWhatSheSaid]

See and that is the frustrating thing for me. I already have an indisputable crohns diagnosis, every test has been positive. So whether I have it isn't the question. It is whether it is flaring or not. Based on what is happening with my body, I tend to think it is flaring, but have started doubting how well I know my own body due to my GI's conviction that things did not look severe enough to be causing all of these issues for me. Nonetheless, he put me on prednisone, which I just started today.

 

[heisenberg]

I've had an MR enterography done. the worst part is the drink you have to take over an hour before you go into the machine. 2 litres of it. tastes like a cross between sea water and cream soda. pretty foul. being in the machine isn't too bad, but your arms start to ache after about 5 minutes because of the position you are lying in. I got told off a few times by the radiologist for fidgeting too much . Oh and the other bad part which I almost forgot, is you have to have a IV cannula inserted into your hand in order for them to dose the contrast agent into you during the test. As all of you will know, those aren't the nicest things to be inserted into you (or maybe all the doctors that have done it to me are really bad at doing it? haha)

The other thing to note, is that they will probably tell you to be near a toilet from about an hour after you finish the test, as that is when all the liquid you have drunk will pass out the other end. The only problem is that it could appear any time really. When I did it, I waited around at the hospital for an hour, but nothing was coming out, so I decided to start driving home. I didn't actually start to pass any of it until about 7 hours later. However I do know someone who did it and was caught short on the drive back. So it is like a game of Russian roulette really .

 

[Sonny]

What?? How did your GI miss an abscess during a colonoscopy? Where was it? What issues were you having that spurred them to do that procedure? Just the pain in the lower right abdomen? It can be so frustrating sometimes. Better late than never I suppose. What's your course of action now?

Yeah like Dusty said it was the whole "intra-abdominal" thing, at least I'm fairly sure. Also after a certain distance inside my GI couldn't go any further with the colonoscopy because it was too strictured. My GI had been suggesting an MRI for awhile since when tapering off of both entocort and prednisone I had what was supposedly a "flare," and also he had never really been able to get into the small intestine during the colonscopy. However now I'm waiting to have this abscess drained, let's hope in the next few days, and then retry the medication and taper route. The surgeon I talked to said the abscess actually rendered the medication I've been on for the past three months fairly useless :ybatty:

 

[ThatsWhatSheSaid]

Ugh! How miserable. At least you have some answers and a direction, right? I have neither right now, which I feel should not be possible when you have a diagnosis. I am starting to feel like I have an incapable doctor.

 

[Sonny]

True. You should see if the prednisone helps you though. It may have a few unwanted side effects but did me loads of good for awhile. Also a second opinion from a different GI wouldn't hurt as well.