Hip Arthrogram MRI

This is a shoulder joint. I show it only to demonstrate the
size of the needle, which is comparable to the needle I saw
on my x-ray. I couldn't find a hip image of similar quality.

My first words of advice to anyone who is scheduled for a hip arthrogram MRI are: don't read blog posts about hip arthrogram MRIs. I understand this is a counterproductive thing to write, given the title of this post, but. I had one done today, and I made the mistake of reading online about the procedure yesterday. As a result of my reading, I was somewhat terrified at the apparent prospect of terrible pain, both during and after.

Perhaps I had an exceptional experience, and perhaps an exceptional doctor, but I doubt it. That's not to say that the staff at Humber River Hospital in north Toronto weren't excellent - they were. But I am not certain how one procedure could vary so much from one location to another.

The procedure goes as follows. First your hip is swabbed with iodine and another sterilizing solution. Then, you have an x-ray of your hip done. Then the doctor (in my case, Dr. Anthony Mascia, brisk, efficient and energetic) injects a freezing agent, then the contrast media (guided by the x-ray) - the contrast solution is, as he described it, 99% water and 1% gadolinium. I had a glimpse of the x-ray, and then two reactions - 1. wow, that is a long needle and 2. my hip looks so, well, normal (sigh). It felt like it took all of two minutes, and I really do think that's all the time it took.

Then, I was wheeled off to MRI. Wheeled, not because I couldn't walk, which I could have, I felt numb-ish, but not unstable, but because if I had walked, apparently the contrast media would have leaked out (their words) of the joint and thereby would not have been as contrast-y (my word) for the MRI.

In the MRI room, I laid down on the table, had my feet taped together so my legs wouldn't move out of position, and then the chunka chunka chunka of the MRI began. Which was astoundingly loud, even with earplugs in. The tech, on a speaker directly above my head, would check in occasionally to see how I was faring, and to tell me that the next segment of imaging would be so-and-so minutes, and then I was done. About 15 minutes, I think.

Off the table I went, then got changed, and then out into the world. My partner Stewart was there to drive me home, which was lovely, but I'm quite sure I could have easily driven myself. And now, here I sit, typing this post, with a slight ache in my hip joint, but nothing terrible. I am a bit tired, because I didn't sleep well (anxious) last night, but other than that, quite fine.

Again, perhaps my experience was exceptional. I found an abstract of a report done on reaction to the contrast media, and was granted access to read the first two pages, on page two there is a conclusion: "severe adverse reactions from intravascular administration of iodinated contrast are seen in approximately 0.26 to 3% of cases." It goes on, a bit, and the curious can read it at the URL indicated above.

Next, I wonder what the MRI will show.