Going on vacation shouldn't inspire dread. But it did for one patient. A 67-year-old grandmother relished the idea of a holiday with her extended family, with one exception. The serious pain in her left hip threatened to be an uninvited guest.
About six months prior to the family getaway, sudden, sharp pains in her left hip sent her to her doctor. She was treated for arthritis with a prescription NSAID. Two months of twice-a-day pills brought only fleeting relief. Another doctor, an x-ray, and another prescription NSAID for arthritis, this time coupled with physical therapy.
It worked for a while. Sort of.
Then ruthless pain erupted, so severe that she could hardly stand up, let alone walk. She went to a third doctor who sent her for an MRI. This time the diagnosis was iliopsoas bursitis. Yet another NSAID. That one didn't work either.
She finally ended up where she could have started, with Dr. Janak Goyal. He immediately turned to his point-of-care ultrasound system. It readily exposed the same information that the much more expensive MRI had shown: iliopsoas bursitis. And more importantly to the patient, Dr. Goyal spared her yet another time-consuming trip for more testing. His point-of care ultrasound system allowed him to change the care strategy. Dr. Goyal used ultrasound to guide an injection into the troublesome area. Three days later, the pain was gone.
She went on her month-long vacation. The pain that had haunted her for months was gone. She spent quite a bit of time reconnecting with her children and grandchildren through long walks. After her holiday, she returned to Dr. Goyal. She wanted to thank him for her vacation fun, due specifically to the use musculoskeletal ultrasound. Says Dr. Goyal, "I cannot think of any other outpatient imaging modality which could help in this situation. Iliopsoas bursitis is pretty common, and I believe a lot of patients are suffering due to lack of availability of MSK ultrasound."
Contact us to learn how Sonosite point-of-care ultrasound can change how patients see you.