Friday, September 25, 2009

X-ray quiz of the day - 1



A 22-year-old woman sustained an injury to her low back 1 year ago while playing rugby. She now complains of excruciating low back pain with numbness and tingling into her left buttock. This pain is affecting her daily living activities. The patient underwent 6 months of conservative management consisting of restriction of activities, physical therapy, and anti-inflammatory medication with little relief. Based on the image below, the next appropriate step in the management of this patient is:

a)
Continued conservative management
b)
Posterolateral fusion at the L5/S1 level with bone graft
c)
Laminectomy at the L2/L3 level
d) Laminectomy at the L3/L4 level
e) Diskectomy at the L3/L4 level


Click here for the answer