Accidents happen every day, and many lead to various types of bone fractures. Depending on many factors, a broken bone might easily heal in a matter of weeks or months. However, the injured person may face multiple surgeries, extensive recovery involving physical therapy and medication, intense pain, loss of use of a limb, or even amputation for more serious bone breaks.
If you or someone you love suffers a serious injury involving a bone fracture, discuss your situation and your legal rights with an experienced car accident lawyer as soon as possible.
Who Is Most Likely to Suffer Different Types of Bone Fractures?
For most, a fractured arm, ankle, or toe is almost a rite of passage in childhood. Often, these fractures are not high-impact breaks, and they heal in a matter of months. However, broken bones can occur in various situations, and depending on how, when, where, and what bone is broken, many are serious injuries that can drastically change your current and future medical condition.
Bone fractures may be a minor portion of serious car accident injuries. Or broken bones could be the worst outcome after a fall. Sometimes, after an initial fracture, if a broken bone is not set right, a serious infection called osteomyelitis can set in, which can potentially require amputation of the limb simply as the result of a bone fracture.
People who are involved in an accident may face serious injuries, including one of the many types of bone fractures. If you suffered bone fractures due to someone else’s negligence, it is important to calculate all your potential losses before considering a final settlement of your injury claim.
Types of Bone Fractures
As you can imagine, the severity of a fracture usually depends on the amount of force applied, the strength of the bones, and the direction in which the force is applied.
The following are the most common types of fractures:
- Greenstick Fracture: when the bone is slightly broken as the result of being bent;
- Stable Fracture: The bone is broken, but the ends still line up;
- Open/Compound Fracture: when the broken bone fractures pierce through the skin at the time of the incident;
- Transverse Fracture: when the bone fractures horizontally;
- Buckle Fracture: when the broken bone ends are driven into one another;
- Oblique fracture: when the bone fractures at an angle, and
- Comminuted Fracture: when the bone shatters into three or more pieces.
Open fractures are among the most dangerous types of fractures because the bone is severed completely and pierces through the skin, causing a greater risk of infection. These serious injuries are the types of fractures most commonly seen in car accidents because of the high impact of a crash.
Because bones have some flexibility to bend and give, it takes a powerful force to sever the bone completely. Further, comminuted fractures are also commonly seen after a high-impact car crash because it takes considerable energy to shatter a bone into multiple pieces.
This type of fracture, however, can be the most difficult type to treat because it requires setting the bone in multiple places, which can often require surgical intervention. In these serious car accident injuries, a bone fracture can require much more than simply a cast.
Complications from Leg Bone Fractures
According to the Mayo Clinic, leg fractures can be some of the most difficult to heal.
Complications from a broken leg can include:
- Knee or ankle pain;
- Incomplete healing due to blood flow disruption to the limb;
- Infection;
- Nerve and blood vessel damage;
- Compartment syndrome, which is a condition that causes pain, swelling, and disability in the muscles near the bone;
- Arthritis; and
- Unequal leg length which can lead to back pain.
Some of these complications can have serious consequences, such as loss of use of a limb or even amputation. In fact, some patients will choose amputation in order to relieve the excruciating pain of compartment syndrome. Often, these complications will not manifest until later in the healing process, so it's important to always take any type of bone fracture seriously.
For example, if a child's leg was fractured at the school playground, it may not be apparent until the child begins to grow that they suffer from unequal leg length. Unfortunately, a person with different length legs can suffer a lifetime of spinal problems.
Further, a fracture that extends to a bone's joint or that does not heal in proper alignment can cause arthritis or osteoarthritis years after the initial break. If you are considering filing an insurance claim or lawsuit that includes compensation for any bone fractures, it is important to consider all potential complications of your unique circumstances when calculating the value of your personal injury case.
How Florida’s No-Fault Law Threshold Relates to Bone Fractures
Because Florida's courts are inundated with personal injury litigation from car accidents, the legislature created no-fault laws designed to reduce litigation. These laws require all drivers to carry Personal Injury Protection (PIP) insurance coverage that “guarantees” some form of compensation regardless of who is at fault for the accident.
Under this system, however, Florida law sets a medical “threshold” for personal injury recovery. In other words, your injuries must meet certain pre-qualifications if you wish to pursue a personal injury claim against a negligent third party in Florida courts. If your injuries do not exceed this threshold or meet other requirements, you must file a claim against your own PIP carrier.
Which Injuries Meet or Exceed the No-Fault Standards?
These are the four categorizations of injuries in Florida that meet the threshold standard that would allow you to seek compensation against a responsible party above the amounts paid by your no-fault carrier:
- Significant and permanent loss of an important bodily function;
- Permanent injury within a reasonable degree of medical probability;
- Significant and permanent scarring or disfigurement, and
- Death.
Due to the seriousness of bone fractures, broken bones will almost always push you past the Florida threshold requirement in personal injury cases. Only car accident cases, however, have personal injury thresholds, and broken bones are just as likely to occur in a trip and fall or crushing accident.
To fully understand how the law applies to your personal injury situation, talk to an experienced personal injury attorney as soon as possible. Reputable law firms offer a free consultation to learn more about your legal rights.
It is especially important to seek immediate medical help if a child or elderly individual suffers from a broken bone. While a child may heal more quickly if the fracture is not set properly this may result in lifetime complications. Also, if an elderly person with weakened bones falls and breaks a hip, it is often a difficult injury to ever heal from.
Contact a Dedicated Personal Injury Attorney to Pursue Compensation for Bone Fractures
If you have suffered from any type of serious car accident injuries, including broken bones, due to the negligence of another person, it is important to contact a Florida personal injury attorney to discuss your case. During a no-obligation, free consultation, you can ask questions and learn more about the personal injury claim process.
Whether it's a worker's compensation claim, a car accident, or a trip-and-fall injury, the law in Florida is different for each claim. In general, you are entitled to compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. However, every case is a little different, and it is essential to consider how bone fractures may affect you in the future when determining what you need to recover today.
Take advantage of your no-risk, free consultation with Dolman Law Group Accident Injury Lawyers, PA, right away. We are among the premier personal injury lawyers throughout the state of Florida and nationwide. We are here to fight for your right to compensation.
With offices across both Florida coasts, you can easily reach the skilled and compassionate legal team at Dolman Law Group by calling 833-552-7274, or you can write to us using our online contact page for your complimentary case review.
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