Musculoskeletal

Lumbar spine: Evaluate suspected fracture

Specific Anatomic Region

Lumbar spine

Application

Evaluate suspected fracture

Author

Fishman EK

Reference Source

Personal communication

Scanner Used

Siemens Somatom Plus 4

Injection Rate

N/A

Contrast Volume and Type

N/A

Area Scanned

Will vary but typically from T-12/L1 through L5-S1

Scan Delay

None

Length of Spiral (time)

30-40sec

Slice Thickness

3mm

Table Speed/Pitch

3-5mm/sec or a pitch of 1-1.6

Reconstruction Interval

2mm

3D Technique Used

VRT

Comment: The key to this study is a motion-free exam. A high-resolution bone algorithm can be used to optimize the transaxial data. Sagittal images are often very useful in these cases as well.