Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides)

This is the fuller elbow x-ray — three or more views — billed for both elbows. Three views exist because the elbow is three bones meeting in one hinge and a fracture line hides behind them on any single projection. Filming both elbows is common in children, where the uninjured side shows what that child's normal looks like.

This explanation has not been reviewed by a person yet.

What it is

Three bones meet at the elbow: the end of the upper arm bone and the two forearm bones, arranged so that the joint both hinges and rotates. On a single x-ray they overlap, so a break at the head of one forearm bone can sit squarely behind another bone and disappear. Extra projections pull them apart, which is the reason this code covers three or more views rather than a plain front-and-side pair.

The other reason the elbow gets special handling is childhood. A child's elbow contains several separate growth centers that appear at different ages and harden at different rates, so a normal elbow on film can look like it has pieces out of place. Imaging the other elbow gives a direct comparison from the same child, which is why this study is sometimes ordered for both sides.

Why it is done

To find a fracture around the elbow after a fall onto an outstretched hand, which in children often involves the end of the upper arm bone just above the joint
To pull the overlapping bones apart across several angles so a fracture line hidden on one view is seen on another
To compare a child's injured elbow against the other one, since the growth centers that make a child's elbow hard to read are present on both sides
To check whether the joint is dislocated as well as broken, and whether the bones have returned to position after being set
To assess a stiff or painful adult elbow for arthritis, loose fragments, or an old injury

What to expect

The arm is laid on the plate with the elbow straightened for one view and bent for the next, and rotated between the remaining images. With a painful elbow, positioning is the uncomfortable part; the exposures themselves are instant. Both arms take a little longer than one, but the visit is still typically around ten minutes. There is no preparation and nothing afterward. A radiologist reads all the images together and issues one report.

Questions worth asking

If the other elbow was filmed only for comparison, is that included in this both-sides code, or does a second charge appear for it?
Was the comparison side ordered by the clinician, or added by the technologist? It is worth knowing who made the call before the bill arrives.
Three or more views is a different, higher-priced code than a two-view elbow study. How many views were actually taken?
If a child is seen in a pediatric emergency department and then again in an orthopaedic clinic, will the clinic use the existing images or take their own set?

What Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) costs by state

Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Texas — 109 hospitals, median $383.10
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Florida — 82 hospitals, median $752.55
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Ohio — 67 hospitals, median $439.40
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in California — 66 hospitals, median $431.60
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Illinois — 51 hospitals, median $446.40
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Virginia — 43 hospitals, median $323.00
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Tennessee — 38 hospitals, median $106.49
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Pennsylvania — 33 hospitals, median $325.20
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Wisconsin — 33 hospitals, median $337.92
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Iowa — 29 hospitals, median $300.62
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Michigan — 27 hospitals, median $389.00
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Indiana — 26 hospitals, median $516.00
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Georgia — 25 hospitals, median $326.59
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Washington — 25 hospitals, median $264.48
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in New Jersey — 23 hospitals, median $97.54
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Arizona — 22 hospitals, median $109.30
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in New York — 22 hospitals, median $104.19
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Kentucky — 21 hospitals, median $644.40
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Missouri — 21 hospitals, median $253.55
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Minnesota — 19 hospitals, median $216.00
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Oklahoma — 18 hospitals, median $302.50
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Colorado — 17 hospitals, median $1,049.98
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in West Virginia — 17 hospitals, median $201.60
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in North Carolina — 15 hospitals, median $251.55
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Nebraska — 13 hospitals, median $250.66
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Oregon — 13 hospitals, median $243.75
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Kansas — 11 hospitals, median $395.85
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Mississippi — 11 hospitals, median $94.71
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in South Carolina — 11 hospitals, median $352.00
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Arkansas — 10 hospitals, median $274.95
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Maine — 7 hospitals, median $381.90
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in South Dakota — 7 hospitals, median $380.00
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Alaska — 5 hospitals, median $593.58
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Nevada — 4 hospitals, median $624.64
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in North Dakota — 4 hospitals, median $241.60
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Wyoming — 4 hospitals, median $338.62
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Hawaii — 2 hospitals, median $188.80
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Maryland — 2 hospitals, median $106.80
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Montana — 2 hospitals, median $182.40
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in New Mexico — 2 hospitals, median $322.14
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in Louisiana — 1 hospitals, median $153.92
Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost in New Hampshire — 1 hospitals, median $393.95

Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) prices at hospitals

See every published price for Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides): the full national range, the state and hospital breakdowns, and which hospitals charge the least.

Elbow X-ray (3 or more views, both sides) cost — see all prices →

Sources

OrthoInfo (AAOS): Elbow Fractures in Children (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)
MedlinePlus: Bone x-ray (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)
Wikipedia (opens in a new tab, leaves healthcosts.net)

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