Hello
My neighbour had an MRI yesterday of her brain and I think cervical spine, (maybe thoracic too, I’m not sure). She wasn’t advised not to wear an underwired bra so she took off all her (gold!) jewellery before the MRI and left on her bra.
She has ended up with burns from the bra.
Has anyone else experienced this?
What’s the outcome? How long does it take to cure the damage? And what is done to help sort out the burns?
Sue
ooo `eck! That sounds really bad. Why didnt staff tell her exactly what not to wear?
pollsx
It sounds really nasty. They told her to remove jewellery but not about underwear. And didn’t give her a gown. I have no idea exactly what was told her before the scan. And now she’s not getting anywhere with what to do about the burns. I’m going to phone her in a minute and find out what’s to be done.
Sue
Get herself to the docs they may need dressings on them I burnt my boobs years ago had to have them dressed for a few weeks until they healed . Very sore no bra let them hang slack .
Katy
Sue, your friend needs to get in touch with the imaging people who did the scan right away in order to (a) seek their advice and (b) give them a chance to do something about it. That must be a reportable incident in terms of their own H&S procedures, apart from anything else, and if they do not take it seriously, there will be formal complaints procedures to make sure they pay attention. I also think she need to have photographic evidence of the tissue damage (now and over time) and consult her GP so that there is documented evidence of the harm done (as well as help with healing). What a horrid thing to happen. I have had many an MRI (as you have had, no doubt) and as well as the ‘no metal’ thing being clear in the written instructions, I am asked again by the radiographer without fail before the scan, just to be sure. My guess is that that fail-safe double checking is what is supposed to happen. Alison
She has been invited to a meeting on Thursday to discuss what has happened. I’ve also encouraged her to get medical assistance ASAP in order that the damage done is properly treated and also so it is documented. It seems that she just wasn’t properly advised. She removed her jewellery but didn’t think about her bra. After all, it was her head that was being scanned, so I don’t think it occurred to her that she was wearing metal.
I’ll be making the suggestion about photographic evidence, so thanks for that.
Sue
And if it was at an NHS hospital, what about PALS?
My first scan was private, and they were so particular about “no metal” that I had to get confirmation, from the hospital that did my heart bypass seven years earlier, that the stainless steel wire used to sew my sternum back together was non-magnetic.
Sounds like a failure in the H&S procedures to me - and someone should get their wrist slapped.
Geoff