R ribs or Lumbar spine 5 views

amyindallas · Joined: 20 Jun 2009 Posts: 1

I am needing to know which is done first - R ribs or lumbar spine 5 views and why. Does lumbar spine 5 views use any kind of contrast? Thank you in advance!

954heat · Joined: 29 Sep 2007 Posts: 90 Location: south florida

if a patient came in for a right ribs and l spine i dont think it matters which one u do first. and a 5 view l spine doesnt use any contrast. just the ap, lateral, 2 obliques, and a spot.

Radiology Glossary · Joined: 18 Oct 2007 Posts: 29

Kaia · Joined: 25 May 2009 Posts: 8

Do we really do rib views anymore? Most of the Rad's I've worked with don't see much of a point. Flail chest won't be getting obliques, and if you're worried about a pneumo that's insp/exp views anyway.

Do most of you still do lots of ribs? The only time I see them is when the patient bullies the GP into ordering them because they 'want to know if it's broken'... despite the fact that treatment is the same either way and they'll be getting a little extra dose for their trouble.

wvaio · Joined: 22 Sep 2007 Posts: 85

If I were doing right ribs 2+ views and an l-spine 4+ views I would do them in this order personally:

All views recumbent-
Ap ribs
Ap Spot Ribs
AP Lspine
RPO Ribs
RPO Lspine
LPO Lspine
Left lateral Lspine
Left lateral Spot L spine.

Believe it or not we do alot of ribs. Patients feel cheated if they don't come to Xray while in the ER, and ER docs are quick to appease them.
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