VOMIT = “VICTIMS OF MODERN IMAGING TECHNOLOGY”
This term was first introduced by Richard Hayward, a consultant neurosurgeon in an article in the British Medical Journal in 2003
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VOMIT (victims of modern imaging technology) – an acronym for our times. BMJ 2003;326:1273:
“…The history of imaging since the discovery of x rays has been one of an exponential rise in the volume and accuracy of information, acquired against a background of firstly increasing and then reducing invasiveness—and rising costs … It is small wonder that the flood of information from these investigations and our knowledge of how to deal with it may be several years out of step … So where does this leave us doctors? We adapt to a world in which we must accept VOMIT as a reasonable price for our technological advances. But it’s also a world in which that well tried and tested concept, the doctor patient relationship, exists to help us translate the anxiety provoking generality into, we hope, the reassuringly individual.”
It is very important to remember that there is NOT a linear association between scan discovered changes and pain.
SO – just because there is pain and there is a scan change, it does not automatically create a causative relationship. This is particularly the case in persistent pain and especially in spinal pain.
Technology remains a very useful tool when used and interpreted correctly. It remains true to always treat the patient – not the scan.
