SPECT Scan

A SPECT scan is a special nuclear medicine study capable of providing information about blood flow to tissues.  It is a sensitive diagnostic tool used to detect spinal disorders such as stress fractures, spondylosis, infections, and tumors.  Analyzing blood flow to an organ such as bone may help to determine how well it is functioning.

Similar to a PET Scan, a radionuclide pharmaceutical is injected intravenously.  The bodily tissues absorb the pharmaceutical as a camera rotates around the patient picking up the pattern of distribution.  This information is recorded into a complex computer software program that is used to interpret the data.  The images represent cross-sections of the targeted area.  The images can be reconstructed into three-dimensional formats.

Nuclear imaging techniques such as PET and SPECT scans use small amounts of the radionuclides (radioactive isotopes) to measure tissue changes.  The radionuclides are absorbed by healthy tissue at a different rate than tissues affected by a disease process since diseased tissues and organs usually have an altered metabolism, sometimes because of the vascularity of the disease process.  A change in the absorption by a tissue may be an indication of abnormal metabolic activity. 

Spinal Palpation:

Spinal palpation refers to the application of the hand and fingers onto the surface of the body for the purpose of evaluating the condition of a bodily region.  It is defined as the act of feeling with the hands.  A skilled physician can derive a lot of information through careful and methodical palpation.  Palpation requires the application of variable pressure through the surface of the body for the purpose of assessing the shape, size, consistency, movement patterns and general health of the tissues beneath the hands. Palpation is one of the oldest forms of physical examination.  Palpatory skills are learned tasks that require hours and often years of devotion and practice to fully develop.

Spinal palpation is a practical and cost efficient diagnostic procedure, which can be applied during an office visit to an area.  Palpatory examination provides diagnostic information, which cannot be obtained through X-ray, or other advanced imaging techniques.  It can be used to assess temperature variations, muscle tension patterns, joint mobility, muscle atrophy, muscle hypertrophy, tumors /masses, swelling, and pain patterns.

Palpation can be divided into static and dynamic categories. Static palpation refers to manual assessment with the patient or bodily region in a stationary position.  Static palpation can be further divided into bony and soft tissue palpation.  Dynamic or motion palpation is particularly helpful for evaluating joint mobility which includes the assessment of joint play, joint end play or end feel and reactive paraspinal muscle spasms which may accompany the induction of movement into a painful joint region. Motion palpation of the spine is used to evaluate the quality of segmental movement of the spinal column.