MRI Scans For Detecting Painful Hamstring Injuries

Featuring Dr. Audrey Spielmann, MD, FRCPC

Duration: 1 minute, 58 seconds

Hamstring injuries are fairly common.

Usually it occurs when a patient is suddenly sprinting or occasionally it can occur when they have been - in a hockey player for example - if they are knocked into the boards, but also in other sports such as soccer, football and rugby, and tennis as well, when there's a sudden burst of energy and the muscle can tear in the hamstring and as well as at other sites.

MRI is fantastic to look at the soft tissue injury to determine the full extent of the injury to see if there's any muscle that is still intact, or if it's a complete tear.

Here's an example of a hamstring tear, and this is an MRI of a hamstring injury in someone who plays hockey. And first of all i just want to show you the left side that is normal - this is the hamstring and the tendon attaching onto the bone, as compared to the right side where we can see all this bright signal intensity demonstrating the hamstring injury.

And MRI is the best imaging modality to assess hamstring injuries as we can see the full extent of the injury and determine if there is a compete detachment of the tendon, if there's any blood collection or hematoma associated with that and delineate it the most accurately.

MRI is the best modality to assess hamstring or other muscle injuries and if you have any questions at all regarding MRI for this area contact your family doctor, a sports medicine physician, or an imaging facility.

Presenter: Dr. Audrey Spielmann, Radiologist, Vancouver, BC

Local Practitioners: Radiologist