It has largely been replaced by CT and MRI scans. CT and MRI Scans . MRI and CT scans are often used for identifying disc abnormalities. MRIs are more accurate than CTs and provide very well-defined images of soft tissue and bone. MRIs are able to detect annular tears or disc fragments and can detect nonspinal causes of back pain, including infection and cancer.
Spinal abnormalities identified by MRIs also predict long-term problems.
Three-dimensional CT scans and MRI refinements may soon make diagnosis more accurate. These techniques are not painful, but they are very expensive. Furthermore, evidence now strongly suggests that an image of an abnormal disc is not necessarily an indication for surgery. And most have no back pain at all. Discs abnormalities in people who have back pain, then, may simply be a coincidence rather than an indication for treatment.