Pelvic Ultrasound with Foley catheter in, vs. 3T MRI with hernia staples (even possible??)

Men's health
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Good day, fellow tribesmen!

There doesn't seem to be prostate ultrasound diagnosis thread for pelvic (prostate, bladder) ultrasound, so this is to share what I've learned in the last two days,

... and to solicit "wisdom" from more experienced forum members.

Question:  I had sudden-onset bladder blockage on September 1st.  Age 67.  Was super-healthy up to that day.  My uro gave me conflicting signals yesterday.  Is pelvic ultrasound the least-harmful test for me?  

Prostate ultrasound diagnosis isn't easy to get from my uro, even though we're in a city with a major hospital two blocks from her 4-uro clinic.  So, I made phone calls, and found a private clinic that does pelvic ultrasounds with the Foley still in my bladder.  Just sent her office a fax asking for a requisition for the private ultrasound diagnosis.

I have metal(?) staples from Shouldice Hernia Hospital, many years ago.  Will this preclude me from an MRI scan?  I've asked the #1 private MRI clinic here, and still waiting for the reply.

Thanks for all suggestions, comments, and replies!

 

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Good morning Bob  When you had your hernia done did they give you a card to say that you have them in from your surgery.  I know when I had my Urolift done my doctor gave me a card that tell me or anyone that has to do a MRI on me that I have them in.  Which can be done.  They just have to know that you have them and where.  It a shame you are not getting any help from your doctor or the Hospital.  Good luck hope you here from them soon  Ken 

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If the clips are metallic, then they will cause distortion in the MRI image, but you can still have MRI.

However, if the clips are made of magnetic material ( iron or steel), then you CANNOT have MRI, because strong magnetic field will rip the clips out.

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Good answer. Urolift uses metal tabs. I seem to remember that the Urolift website said that these tabs cast a shadow on the MRI result that is there is an area surrounding the tabs in which the MRI could not see anything. The boundary of this area is only a few mm from each tab not extensive. One can check the Urolift website and also call the manufacturer in California to get the precise dimension of the shadow.