To get the right treatment, you need the right diagnosis. When you come to a UPMC Sports Medicine provider with pain, we start doing detective work to find its cause right away.
In addition to asking you questions about your injury, we may need to do imaging. Some injuries need tests like x-rays, MRIs, and ultrasounds to help us rule things in or out.
We have the most advanced imaging along with on-site radiologists.
We work to create a pleasant experience for you, with a friendly staff, relaxed waiting rooms, and comfortable testing areas.
Types of Sports Imaging Services We Offer
Our sports medicine doctors are experts at knowing what type of imaging is best for diagnosing your suspected injury. In some cases, we also use imaging as part of a treatment.
Sports imaging tests we offer include:
- Bone scan — A bone scan, or DXA scan, is a painless, noninvasive test that measures your bone mineral density. Bone scans help spot or track bone loss and can also measure body composition.
- CT scan — A CT scan has a donut-shaped tube that rotates 360 degrees around you, taking pictures. It creates a 3D view of the inside of your body.
- Musculoskeletal (MSK) ultrasound — An MSK ultrasound uses existing ultrasound technology (sound waves that can produce images). However, it focuses on acute and chronic conditions that affect soft tissues, like muscles, tendons, ligaments, and nerves.
- Wide-opening MRI — An MRI scan is a painless, noninvasive test that uses magnetic waves to take precise 2D and 3D pictures from all angles. Our wide-opening, or wide-bore, MRI machines offer more space, which helps you feel less claustrophobic. Since MRIs help us see fine details of soft tissues, they help diagnose an array of sports injuries.
- X-ray — An x-ray is a painless, noninvasive way to take pictures inside the body. X-rays show dense tissues, like bones, better than soft tissues, so they can help us spot bone breaks.
We’re fortunate to have radiologists trained in sports imaging on-site. Depending on the test, we often read the results immediately. If your doctor is from UPMC, they can receive your results electronically and view them on their computer.
Sports Injuries We Diagnose and Treat
We see the whole range of athletic injuries, from traumatic injuries due to hits or falls to overuse injuries. The categories of conditions we most often do imaging of are:
- Broken bones — X-rays remain the standard for spotting bone fractures. However, if an x-ray doesn’t show any obvious breaks, your doctor may order an MRI.
- Concussion — Most concussions don’t require imaging, since concussions don’t show up on scans. But if your doctor suspects a skull fracture or bleeding, they may order a head CT scan.
- Joint pain — Your doctor may use MRI, CT scans, or MSK ultrasounds to look more closely at your joints, especially if they suspect osteoarthritis. We can use MSK ultrasound to help deliver pain-relieving injections for joints.
- Muscle or tendon tears — Doctors typically use MRIs to check for severe muscle tears, but MSK ultrasounds can also find this type of damage.
- Ligament sprains or tears — Similar to tendon tears, MSK ultrasounds can also help detect ligament tears.
- Tendonitis — Your doctor may want to get images of inflamed tendons, but we also use MSK ultrasounds when giving pain-relieving injections like anti-inflammatories.
Why Choose UPMC for Sports Imaging?
When it comes to imaging, you more have choices than ever before. When you come to one of our sports imaging locations, you can access:
- Latest imaging technology — UPMC is always looking to improve your experience and improve diagnostic accuracy.
- Care under one roof — We have two large sports complexes — UPMC Rooney Sports Complex and UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex — Both provide imaging and access to orthopaedic surgeons, sports medicine doctors, and physical therapists — all in one place.
- Leading-edge sports medicine — UPMC Sports Medicine specializes in treating and preventing a wide range of sports-related injuries. We have sophisticated training programs to help with every aspect of your performance.
Make An Appointment for Sports Imaging
To schedule an appointment with a doctor or other sports medicine expert, call 1-855-937-7678.
