| Abstrakt: |
Introduction: The evaluation of the justifiability of MRI plays an important role in the management of patients with chronic back pain, economic savings for the patient and the healthcare service delivery system. The present study examines the justifiability of MRI in the diagnosis of lumbar disc herniation in patients with back pain. Methods and Materials: In this systematic review that was conducted by searching PubMed, Web of Knowledge, Scopus, Cochrane Library, and EMBASE databases, the justifiability of MRI was considered as an outcome. The title and abstract of the screened studies were examined based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria and the articles were screened and selected upon the agreement of the researchers. The collected data were recorded in an Excel form. Finally, the final conclusion was made based on the results of the study. Results: The inappropriate use of MRI services was highly reported in the reviewed studies. This issue occurred due to the lack of training in the clinician and the patient, non-compliance of clinicians with existing instructions, fearing of the lack of referral and expertise of clinicians, service insurance coverage and free imaging services and problems in the referral system. All of them considered as obstacles to the justifiability of MRI test. Discussion and Conclusion: The results of this review showed that, the justifiability of MRI for the diagnosis of lumbar disc herniation in patients with back pain is low in different countries, especially in Iran. Moreover, it requires the attention of policymakers to reduce the burden of additional costs and unnecessary referrals by eliminating unnecessary cases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
