Clinical application of musculoskeletal CT: Trauma, oncology, and postsurgery

Abstract

Soon after its introduction to the clinical practice in the late 1970s, CT began to be used for the evaluation of musculoskeletal disorders (Wilson et al. 1978). As with other organs and systems, modern MSK imaging strategy uses a multimodality approach, taking advantage of the strengths of various imaging methods (radiographs, ultrasound, nuclear medicine, CT and MR imaging) (Cotten 2013). For a variety of reasons, CT is frequently part of the diagnostic workup and posttreatment follow-up of patients with MSK disorders. Due to its capacity to depict bony structures in great detail without superimposition, CT offers considerable advantages over conventional radiographs. Bone abnormalities are involved in the physiopathology of several types of MSK diseases, such as acute trauma, overstress syndromes, osteoarthritis, neoplasia, and inflammatory diseases. Finally, contrast-enhanced CT also has multiple applications in MSK imaging, allowing better visualization of soft tissue anomalies and further characterization of bony lesions.