MR imaging: its role in detecting occult fractures

Magnetic resonance (MR) studies were performed on 30 consecutive patients who continued to be symptomatic despite negative or inconclusive findings on radiographs and other imaging studies including radionuclide bone scans, computed tomography, and/or polytomography. There were 9 men and 21 women, 20-92 years old (mean age 63 years) whose MR studies were done 3-72 h after frank trauma in 22 cases and in another 8 after 1-4 weeks of increasing pain subsequently attributed to trauma or unaccustomed effort. MR studies were performed using 0.5-T (Phillips) or 1.5-T (Phillips, GE) superconductive magnets. Results indicated that: (1) MR images allowed identification of acute fractures in an emergency room setting, as well as subtle subacute or chronic fractures in the context of strong clinical suspicions despite negative or inconclusive radiographs and other subsequently indecisive imaging studies. (2) MR imaging is the most sensitive way of documenting the earliest changes in traumatized osseous and soft tissue structures simultaneously.