MrPeanutbutter
What is this, a crossover episode?
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This came up in the game thread and I had always thought, like people have said here, that it had to do with swelling. I asked my wife (ER doc) if there was a medical reason for non-same day MRI in the NFL.
Came across an article about imaging in the NFL.
https://www.radiologytoday.net/archive/rt1015p12.shtml
The TL;DR version:
1) MRI hardware is expensive
2) MRIs require an on call technician, radiologist
3) MRIs take a long time, so most players who need one and the same day are not actually going to immediately benefit. A negative MRI result would still take too long for a player to return to the game.
"An MRI takes a half-hour to 45 minutes, and that alone will preclude the ability for the player to return to the game even if it's found to be negative," he says. In addition, Matava says, radiologists would need to be on standby to read the results. "If a player needs an MRI, he probably shouldn't be going back in the game anyway," he adds. In St. Louis, Matava says, the team books four MRI slots every Monday (or the day after the game) at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Some players don't feel or report their injuries until after the game when they wake up with a swollen knee or ankle, he says. "Leaving slots open the next day gives us the ability to get a player in in a relatively quick fashion," Matava says. "We usually [scan] three to four players in the day following a game."
Came across an article about imaging in the NFL.
https://www.radiologytoday.net/archive/rt1015p12.shtml
The TL;DR version:
1) MRI hardware is expensive
2) MRIs require an on call technician, radiologist
3) MRIs take a long time, so most players who need one and the same day are not actually going to immediately benefit. A negative MRI result would still take too long for a player to return to the game.
"An MRI takes a half-hour to 45 minutes, and that alone will preclude the ability for the player to return to the game even if it's found to be negative," he says. In addition, Matava says, radiologists would need to be on standby to read the results. "If a player needs an MRI, he probably shouldn't be going back in the game anyway," he adds. In St. Louis, Matava says, the team books four MRI slots every Monday (or the day after the game) at Washington University/Barnes-Jewish Hospital. Some players don't feel or report their injuries until after the game when they wake up with a swollen knee or ankle, he says. "Leaving slots open the next day gives us the ability to get a player in in a relatively quick fashion," Matava says. "We usually [scan] three to four players in the day following a game."
