MRI Results : Just querying how long anybody... - Pain Concern

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MRI Results

Red1973 profile image
17 Replies

Just querying how long anybody who has had an MRI recently has had to wait for results.

I had head and spine MRI five weeks ago and as consultant who originally requested it had given me next contact date by phone was late October I phoned his secretary two weeks ago to ask if I could have copy of report now as long time to wait until October( as I wanted to make sure any exercises I did and physio visits were not causing more damage) She said report not done yet as backlog so I asked for copy when available.Still not heard anything and don’t want to chase them unnecessarily as I know they are busy.

Not sure how radiographers work so would I be correct in assuming if there was anything really serious in scans it would have been picked up straight after scan by radiographer and then urgent referral to consultant.

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Red1973 profile image
Red1973
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17 Replies
Nettekin profile image
Nettekin

Hi red. Had lower back MRI done a couple of months ago. Was told at the time it would be 7 to 10 days for results to be sent to GP. Was probably nearer 3 weeks in the end. Hope this helps.

SashaWest50 profile image
SashaWest50

I have adisons but sprained my ankle in May 2019 waited and waited for gp to ask for mri consultants said poss crps..right ankle and both knees so severe pain been bedridden for nearly 3 years..I wait another 16 weeks for different consultant..he said he only deals with sciatica which I don't have but booked me an mri which was on 13 June 2021..due to covid can take upto 8 weeks..8 weeks pass I ring the mri team they've scanned my back in error so back on waiting list now got an mri on 11 Sept.. told my gp I'm making a complaint 2 days later thrown off the surgery been with them 30 plus years..they've left me to rot and to the stage that the pain is so bad to stop taking hydrocortisone for addisons stopping would be fatal but I'm inflicting pain t24/7 down to a gp incompetence.

Some patients with other gps have just been sent for mri as gp no idea but it's been done and results back in a few weeks and treatment if any..my gp will now aswell as failure in duty of care will have 'Causation' added as left a condition and time lapse made it worse .if I was a dog I would have been put down it has got that bad that the once a day I could get to the loo with crutches after having morphine my feet turn to marshmallow and I rhave to sit on bathroom floor for 30 mins till get feeling back who scramble back into bed . Next day same. A sprain takes qapprox 3 weeks to heal not 3 years good luck

Red1973 profile image
Red1973 in reply toSashaWest50

Hi SachaWest50Sorry to hear about your problems . Hope your MRI next week goes well and you soon get the results.

Trenholm profile image
Trenholm

Y husband had one in February and got the results last week. One excuse after another until he threatened them with an official complaint.

Betsy50 profile image
Betsy50

Hi red73 should take no more than 3 weeks nowadays you need to keep chasing them. Hope you get the answers your looking for and I wish you well

cyberbarn profile image
cyberbarn

They will not release a imagining report until the clinician requesting it has seen it. So in addition to any delay by the radiologists preparing the report, you have the consultants also causing delays.

In the UK you can make Subject Access Request to the trust that the hospital is in to get a copy of the report yourself. But again, they won't release it until the consultant has spoken to you just in case there is something else wrong that they weren't expecting.

I was speaking to a NHS physio who said he never likes to look at the reports before the consultant or doctor ordering them has talked to the patient because sometimes it is clear that a tumour has been found and he found it very awkward to talk to the patient knowing that the patient hadn't be told yet.

Darkin profile image
Darkin

I got an MRI on back. The results took similar time and proved negative and the consultant advised physio, which i declined considering they could not id the problem!

I think if something was obvious and serious they would have contacted you very in quick order. PS. if the quacks do not see the problem they fall back to the physios ! In my case, i have accepted i will never walk more than a few yards ever again.

Moral. Don't accept physio if the specific problem is not obvious. Physio could make it worse, sadly, in my opinion.

Essie49 profile image
Essie49

I have tramadol for severe back problems and now foot! I don’t think you are allowed both, either one or the other. I don’t take it all the time and am not sure how effective it is. I haven’t tried codine so can’t help there. I have had tramadol, along with other painkillers like Gabapentine for a while so maybe it is more effective when you are first prescribed it. Good luck.

Essie49 profile image
Essie49

I had a back MRI and couldn’t get the result either because of Covid. I think it took months of my chasing up. I have had quite a few and my feeling was that if they hadn’t contacted me immediately it wasn’t too bad. It is frustrating I know. Maybe your gp could chase it up.

Judo1010 profile image
Judo1010 in reply toEssie49

If only, I had an MRI that took nearly three months to get my results, even after lots of phone calls to the consultants Secretary. I did what you are suggesting, visit my GP, for him to say, that’s disgusting. He then went on to say that he had a twinge in his back that worried him, so he arranged for an MRI scan, he went on to say that after a week he hadn’t had the results, so he made a call to the department and spoke to a consultant friend of his, who read out the results over the telephone, and all this just over a week. Then as if to rub my nose in it he said, but unfortunately you can’t do that. So I was left over one Christmas period and into February of the following year worrying what it may be.

Pvancourt profile image
Pvancourt

Hi Red! I’ve had to schedule procedures in Neurology several times this summer. Each time the appoints and procedures are booked pretty far out. I was told by the scheduler that she has never been so busy in Neurology and everything is back logged. My thinking is they are so busy everything is taking longer. However, I would be upset if I was still waiting for results after 5 weeks. I think I still only waited maybe a week once the MRI/MRA was done. I would ask for the office manager or someone because the results may have been misplaced. Good luck! I hope you can get some answers you need.

Chat2U profile image
Chat2U

I've found 2 months on average for brain and neck scans.

Nesting profile image
Nesting in reply toChat2U

Last MRI scan on brain in Aberdeen March this year I got results from the neurosurgeon the following day via video call

Chat2U profile image
Chat2U in reply toNesting

Oh my word - that's phenomenal!

Chat2U profile image
Chat2U in reply toChat2U

I'm saying that, quite stupidly in retrospect - was it good news?

Nesting profile image
Nesting in reply toChat2U

Yes was a follow up for a pineal gland cyst and no change so next scan 2 years time

But yes was surprised I got the results back so fast normally it takes about a month

Babaika profile image
Babaika

I’m from the states so I don’t know about “chasing it up”, but we “aggravate them to death” sometimes to get results. Just kidding knew what chase up was. Good luck hoping for a good report, stay well.

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