When you become the victim of a Virginia motor vehicle accident, one of the most likely injuries you will suffer is a crush injury. Crush injuries occur when one of your body parts comes under excessive pressure from a heavy object or gets squeezed between a heavy object and another heavy object or hard surface.
The Orthopaedic Associates of St. Augustine warn that a crush injury can cause you to exhibit a variety of symptoms, including the following:
- Severe pain
- Lacerations
- Numbness
- Fractures
- Bruises
- Swelling
In addition, you likely will experience excessive bleeding.
Complicating conditions
The biggest reason why crush injuries can be so devastating is that your initial injury can, and often does, lead to complications such as the following:
- Infection: Crush injury victims face a substantially higher risk of infection than people who receive other kinds of injuries or wounds.
- Necrosis: If your tissues remain without blood for too long, they will die.
- Compartment Syndrome: If your muscles remain without blood for too long, they will die.
- Rhabdomyolysis: If your muscle tissue dies, it may release toxins into your bloodstream that could cause kidney failure.
In a worst-case scenario, a crush injury to your neck or back could result in your permanent partial or total paralysis. A crush injury to your hand, arm, foot or leg could result in the necessity for amputation. Whatever crush injury you may receive, you need to obtain immediate medical assistance to evaluate and treat the severity of your injury and minimize the damage it caused.
This is general educational information and not intended to provide legal advice.
