SPECT CT scanning is rarely used in practice in the UK, in the investigation of spinal pain. It is however, used in many other countries, and perhaps the helpfulness of these scans will become recognised here in the near future. These scans do, in my opinion, take the guesswork out of diagnosing inflammatroy causes of spinal pain.
It is an expensive scan and with modern day funding issues in the NHS it is often not available in the public environment.
It is a very sensitive test of intervertebral disc, facet joint and sacro-iliac joint inflammation. It precisely shows areas of spinal inflammation, and is predictive of the response to steroid injections.
It is my opinion that SPECT CT scans are invaluable for the precise treatment of spinal pain.
This diagram shows a SPECT CT scan with an inflamed cervical facet joint. Targeting this joint alone with steroid injection and radiofrequency denervation will give excellent long term pain relief if the joint is the cause of the low back pain. If the low back pain continues afterwards then the procedure has, in my opinion, excluded the joint as a cause of pain.
How I Can Help
There is no need to suffer with debilitating pain; help is at hand! If you are suffering with pain and it will not go away despite the passage of time and using simple pain relieving medications, physiotherapy etc., then I can see you for a comprehensive evaluation of your problem.
Sometimes I alone cannot help you and I work closely with colleagues – surgeons, physiotherapists and psychologists which is important in such care – the multidisciplinary team.
Email health@gmail.com or call us on 0845 225 2215 for an appointment. Leave a message if you get through to a voicemail and you will be called back.