After getting into a car crash, it is not uncommon for injuries to follow. In particular, injuries of the neck, back and head are extremely common.
However, crush injuries are also common among the more extreme injuries a person may suffer.
How do crush injuries happen?
Up To Date discusses crush injuries due to car crashes. What are these injuries? They occur when part of the body, or the entire body, ends up compressed or crushed under the weight of a larger or heavier object.
Crush injuries are always serious, but some are more immediately pressing than others regarding direct threats to a person’s life. For example, a crush injury may occur when someone drives over their co-worker’s foot in a forklift. Another crush injury may occur when a person ends up trapped under debris in a collapsed building during an earthquake.
Repercussions and effects of crush injuries
Needless to say, both have serious repercussions. However, it is the latter that might result in death faster if left without medical attention.
The type of complications a person may suffer from also changes depending on the type of injury. For example, crush injuries to the limbs will result in things like gangrene or potential amputation.
However, crush injuries to the torso have a higher risk of leading to potential organ failure. In either case, sepsis is not impossible, which can lead to fatalities in less than 72 hours after symptoms begin to appear.
Thus, crush injuries need immediate medical care to avoid any of these worst-case scenarios.
