Question:
WARNING about MRI (Magnetic Resonance Imaging) after surgery.

I had my gastric bypass surgery in Oct. 2001. I just recently had an MRI (magnetic resonace imaging) I had an MRI back in 1998 also. This time while I was having the procedure done...I became quite nauseated and felt a "weird" sensation on the left side of my body. I told her to stop the procedure because I was feeling absolutely sick...as if I were going to throw up, she stopped the procedure and came in to talk to me about how I was feeling...I said it was hard to explain, but something just didn't feel right, we waited a few minutes and the strange feeling went away, so I told her to go ahead and try again. The procedure started again, and after a few minutes I started feeling awful again, hard to explain how I was feeling, but something just was not right. I had been having severe back pains for months, so this is why I was having an MRI...even though I was feeling awful, I told her to continue with the MRI because I wanted to find out what was wrong with my back. After about 15 minutes...I felt something hot on the inside of my body...again on the left side....I tried to ignore it...but it got worse, so I told her to turn the MRI off...because I felt something hot inside, like something was burning....she came out...touched my skin, asked my where it was burning...and I pointed to an area, just under my breast on the left side...she said..well, I don't see anything...and asked me if I wanted to contine...I was starting to feel like a basic case....and psychologically talked myself into thinking I must have been imagining it...and continued to talk myself into continuing with the procedure for the next 1/2hr. To try and make a long story short...by the time I was done with the entire procedure, I was feeling so awful, that they sent me to the emergency room, did a bunch of tests and determined that the staples in my stomach from the gastric bypass...had been tugged at from the MRI machine and the MRI machine had actually heated the staples and that was what was causing the "fire" pain I was having! Has anyone ever heard of such a thing? I had told them about my surgery...and they said it was fine to go ahead with the MRI....I just want to warn everyone that this could possibly happen to them...and if ever you need to have an MRI..please be warned that this could happen and can be very uncomfortable. Also, since this time, I have noticed that my stomach is very bubbly....(burping and full sensation most of the time).    — Lisa B. (posted on April 26, 2003)

April 25, 2003
Staples are supposed be be pure titanium which shouldnt be effected at all by MRI. My surgeon answers this question all the time. I wonder if your stap[les are somehow bad, that is not pure titanium for some reason? I have never seen another report of this problem. Did this do any damage? Are you feeling better? BTW back pain is ommon in post ops because of the fast wqeight change. Hopefully your ok otherwise?
   — bob-haller

April 25, 2003
That sounds absolutely horrible -- and MRIs are bad enough. I'm so sorry to hear about your experience! For what it's worth, I had two MRI's recently (chest and neck), and had no problems with them. Maybe they used a different machine (I had the basic "lemmeouttahere!" tube). I wonder what other responses you'll get....<P>For what it's worth to anyone worried about scanning as a post-op, since my RNY 11 months ago, I've also had CT scans, a PET scan, and a couple of radioactive iodine scans (I'm collecting *all* the trading cards!), all with no problems so far ... knock on my wooden head. ;-)
   — Suzy C.

April 25, 2003
Another thought -- perhaps you were allergic to or irritated by the glucosomine (sp?) dye they injected during your MRI (or whatever the heck the stuff is called), if they used it.
   — Suzy C.

April 26, 2003
On that note...what about metal detectors? Will we set them off??????
   — Renee B.

April 26, 2003
Wow - what a weird experience. I had asked my surgeon if the staples would effect MRI's or metal detectors, and he assured me they wouldn't. I flew to Hawaii in December going through at least 3 metal detectors, and not a single beep. You should see your WLS surgeon immediately. If the staples were pulled during the MRI, he should order tests to see if any damage occurred.
   — Cyndie K.

April 26, 2003
i don't want to cause alarm either but there are some surgeons that use steel staples and not titanium. One I know of in the state of Ky is Dr. Bolar. Here is a quote from his info booklet. "I would like to mention that we use permanent staples during this surgery. They are made of steel and are inert. This can be a problem if your pcp or other doctor orders an MRI scan and doesn't know about the staples. You may not be able to have this kind of test and should request a cat scan instead because unlike the MRI it does not use powerful magnets." end of quote. Everyone should ask their own doc what kind of staples he uses. Mine said not to worry and no we don't set off airports either. Just think o0f all the people that go thru everyday with pins and rods in their knees, hips and etc.
   — Delores S.

April 26, 2003
I just had an MRI on Friday to find out more about my back problems and I did not experience any of that. Sorry to hear that you did.
   — Teena A.

April 26, 2003
I thought all surgeons used titanium, everyone should ask their surgeon before a MRI just to be sure. The archway type metal detectors dontr respond to our staples atr the present time. They arent set to be that sensitive, but that could change in the future. The wand type testers do see our staples, I was wanded and pulled up my shirt to prove I wdidnt have anything prohibited. Wands are VERY sensitive and even respond to the metalic flake ink in candy wrappers. A traveler in line in front of me had a wrapper and thats how I know.
   — bob-haller