ABSTRACT

The overuse of healthcare is a growing concern worldwide. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) is an important diagnostic tool for the spectrum of healthcare providers who treat musculoskeletal (MSK) conditions. The aim of the present study was to demonstrate the overuse of MRI in MSK system imaging.

MSK MRIs that were conducted between December 31, 2016 and May 1, 2019 in our hospital were systematically selected. MRIs were divided into groups by anatomical regions. All MRI reports were reviewed according to the findings by two orthopedic surgeons and recorded as normal, abnormal, and insignificant. The number of MRIs was determined according to the departments. Descriptive statistics were performed by using SPSS 22.0.

In total, 2413 MRI reports were detected and scanned. The mean age of the patients was 49.5 years. The lumbar was the most frequent region that had been evaluated by MRI. Of the 2413 MRI reports, 7.54% had normal findings, whereas 26.64% had insignificant findings. In addition, 65.82% of the MRI reports had abnormal findings.

The overuse of MRI is a serious health problem that leads to an increase in costs. Constitution of appropriate guidelines and education of patients may facilitate a decrease in MRI requests.