Proper protocols key to CT of lumbar spine.

MRI is clearly superior to CT in imaging the lumbar spine for evaluation of the postoperative back. The one area in which CT has been shown to be superior to MRI in the lumbar spine is in diagnosing spondylolysis. Pars defects can be very difficult to appreciate with MRI, yet are easily seen with CT. Other than spondylolysis, the postoperative spine, and bone marrow imaging, CT and MRI appear to be diagnostically equivalent.