MRI Scans for Shoulder Injuries

Featuring Dr. Audrey Spielmann, MD FRCP(C), Radiologist

Duration: 1 minute, 41 seconds

Shoulder injuries are very common in sport, and we see injuries in hockey players, other contact sports, in rugby and football, skiing injuries, and sometimes with tennis or other racquet sports.

And the main areas that are visualized beautifully with MRI are the tendons and also the labrum. In fact, the labrum can only be visualized with MRI, with no other imaging modality.

Here is an example of the labrum, which is a fibrous cuff that holds the shoulder in place, and in this particular instance gadolinium has been given to help highlight the labrum. Gadolinium is a contrast agent that we use, and we can see that there is gadolinium undercutting here, consistent with a tear in the labrum.

So normally the labrum is closely applied to the bone here, which is the bony cuff of the shoulder, and we can see that it’s been detached and the gadolinium is extending underneath it here, indicating that it’s been torn, both in the front and in the back. This can cause a lot of shoulder pain, and is only identified with MRI.

If you have any other questions, as far as the benefit of MRI for shoulder injury, contact your family doctor, your sports medicine physician or an imaging referral centre.

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

Local Practitioners: Radiologist