Possibilities of magnetic resonance imaging in visualizing the pudendal nerve in normal and pathological conditions

Abstract

Until recently, imaging of peripheral nerves was limited from a technical point of view, as there was no established “gold standard” study protocol for the purpose of qualitative visualization of nerve trunks in normal and pathological conditions. With technical advances in magnetic resonance imaging and the advent of specialized high-resolution magnetic resonance neurography, it has become possible to visualize peripheral nerves of varying diameters. A literature search in the Pubmed, Medline, EMBASE, Cochrane Library, and eLibrary databases demonstrated the presence of several studies examining the capabilities of magnetic resonance imaging in visualizing the pudendal nerve in normal and pathological conditions. It must be emphasized that the results of these studies are consistent and largely complement each other. A generalization of the available data on the capabilities of magnetic resonance neurography of the pudendal nerve was the impetus for writing this literature review. Magnetic resonance neurography is a tissue-specific imaging method optimized for assessing the condition of peripheral nerves, including changes in the morphology of their bundle structure, signal, the diameter and length of nerve trunks, which can be caused by both anatomical features and pathological processes. Three-dimensional (3D) imaging is critical for studying the topography of peripheral nerves, identifying areas of compression or traumatic injury, and for preoperative planning. Magnetic resonance imaging in certain modes and sections allows to clearly visualize the pudendal nerve along almost its entire length, determine the nature of its branching and the features of its topographic and anatomical location. The anatomical characteristics of the pudendal nerve and its pathological changes obtained using magnetic resonance neurography can be used in everyday clinical practice by urologists, obstetricians-gynecologists and neurosurgeons for planning surgical interventions.