Post-Operative Lesions

Traumatic injuries are often repaired by surgery. As there is a huge variety of procedures with (personal) variations, it is crucial to be aware of the type of surgery, the prosthesis and materials chosen and the approach used. Comparison with the preoperative MRI is also highly advisable as signals and shapes may have changed previously due to trauma. Unfortunately, complex or repeated surgery can make interpretation of signals on MRI very risky because of artefacts, scarring and tissue signal changes. Unsuspected pathology may also arise at unusual sites. In the case of healed extensive traumatic lesions, and certainly in expert cases, additional MRI is mandatory. A “fully healed” saw injury may, indeed, hardly show BMO. However, the fossa in front of the L is impacted and highly irregular. Small secondary synovial osteochondromatosis fragments are detected in the RC joint space. Chondromalacia is already present at the RC, the C-L, and the CMC-II joint. There is also rupture of the SLL, LTL, and the TFCC.