Anatomy of the wrist
The wrist is one of the most complex areas in our body. It is made up of many joints, bones, ligaments and tendons that work together to allow the wrist to make complex and precise movements in almost any direction, i.e. side to side, forward and backward, up and down, it can also rotate and bend.
The wrist joint consists of eight cooperating bones arranged in two rows, which medical students try to learn with several different rhymes.
We distinguish:
- The scaphoid bone,
- lunar bone,
- trigonal bone,
- pea bone,
- greater quadrilateral bone,
- quadriceps minor,
- head bone,
- hook bone.
Indications for CT examination of the wrist
In such a complex organ system, injury or trauma is not difficult. Taking an X-ray does not always dispel all diagnostic doubts, and a CT scan often becomes the first-choice test for wrist injuries.
CT scans are usually performed for:
- Post-traumatic lesions and injuries to the joint or specific bones of the wrist,
- degenerative changes,
- Bone fractures and breaks,
- Shifting of some bones,
- inflammatory lesions,
- foreign bodies.
Preparation for the examination of the wrist joint
In the vast majority of cases, a CT scan of the wrist does not require the administration of a contrast agent, is quick and completely painless. It is not necessary to be fasting or to have your creatinine level and eGFR determined when performing this test. It is necessary, as for any CT scan and examination with ionizing radiation, to bring a current referral for the CT hand examination.