Foot and ankle

the foot and ankle are ct scanned for several reasons. It shows great soft tissue and swelling, gout, fractures, fluid, helps physicians with injections, etc. the bones in the foot are small and ct shows better detail than xray in some cases. MRI may give better detail yet depending on what the physician is looking for.3D reconstructions can be veru helpful with factures and locations. Here is an image found at www.imaging.consult.com of a talar neck frature. It is a sagital view.

KNee

The knee is ct scanned to assess the degree of dislocation and alignment of the location. MRI shows more detail in ligaments and tears in the muscles. Ct also can be used to show fluid on the knee, which can be helpful in draining and etc. Here is an image of a ct that shows fluid on the knee found at www.gentili.net

Hand and wrist

The hand and wrist are also scanned in ct. However it is rare. Most often plain films answer the doctors questions. Studies show that is starting to be performed to help doctors with surgical planning and evaluation if the wrist bones such as the scaphoid. It is also used for tumors or arthritis problems. Here is an image of the wrist and hand ct focusing on the scaphoid. the image was found at www.worldortho.com . MRI is more commonly used to scan wrist and hands due to detail.

Shoulder

Ct scans are done on shoulders to show several things. One of the most common reasons the shoulder is scanned is to diagnose a dislocation, fracture or shoulder injury. A ct can also detect cancer, tumors, mass, abscess, etc. Here is an image found at www.medlineplusmedicine.com

Pelvis

In ct we rarely do just pelvis scans without an abdomen scan too. In the cases we do just scan the pelvis it is normally for hips due to fractures or dislocations. Here is a ct scan showing a fracture that was not seen in regular xray images. Sometimes fracture are picked up or notice on ct and not plain films due to their location or if they are really small.