Broken bones and bone fractures are among the most common injuries after car accidents in Missouri—but sometimes they can be missed by patients and medical teams, leading to incomplete, underpaid, or unpaid personal injury claims.
Serious bone injuries have the potential to disrupt employment, daily activities, and general well-being and require proper diagnosis and treatment for a return to normal activities as soon as possible.
Here is what you need to know about broken bones and fractures from car accidents in Missouri—including how to recognize the symptoms, diagnose/treat injuries, and claim for damages.
Car accidents and broken bones in Missouri
Car crashes are traumatic events involving immense forces that place the bodies of accident victims under severe stress. This can lead to major injuries, including fractured and broken bones in almost any part of the body. Leg, arm, wrist, clavicle, sternum hip, rib, skull, spine, and neck fractures are the most common (more about this below).
Typically, bone fractures and breaks occur when a driver or passenger in the vehicle is:
- Thrown forward or backward in the car
- Thrown out of the car
- Compressed during a collision
- Hit with external objects
- In a collision with the dash, windshield, or other hard object
- Abnormally positioned so that limbs are twisted or bent during a collision
Bone fractures and breaks range from relatively minor injuries to severe compound fractures that greatly impact lives and require surgery and rehabilitation.
What are the signs and symptoms of broken bone injuries?
Bone breaks and fractures are sometimes obvious, especially compound injuries where the bone pierces the skin or if the injury is accompanied by severe pain. Compound breaks need immediate attention to prevent further complications, such as infections.
However, other fractures may be less painful and may even go unchecked and undiagnosed. Some bone fractures require in-depth medical checks and diagnostic imaging. It is always advisable, therefore, to get a complete medical checkup after a car accident—whether you feel any pain or not.
If no external signs of injury are apparent, such as a clear physical deformity, symptoms of a broken bone typically include:
- Intense pain
- Pain increasing with movement or touch
- Pain when breathing (for rib or chest injuries)
- Inability to bear weight on the injured area
- Redness, swelling, and tenderness
- Bruising or discoloration
Common types of bone fractures from a car accident
Because of the tremendous forces involved in car accidents, almost any bone can suffer a fracture or break. Most commonly, we see the following types of bone injuries in Missouri:
- Broken ribs: these are common in frontal collisions, where seatbelts cross the chest area.
- Fractured sternum (breastbone) which is common in high-speed accidents where the driver’s chest hits the steering wheel.
- Broken arms or wrists from holding out one’s arms before impact (a natural reaction to an impending collision).
- Fractured vertebrae due to a compressed spine from the impact forces of an accident, sometimes leading to paralysis or chronic pain.
- Broken legs, especially from frontal collisions.
How are broken bones diagnosed after an accident?
After a car accident, a checkup from a medical professional should be a priority regardless of whether you think you are injured or not.
If you experience any of the symptoms outlined above, especially pain in any area of the body, the doctor is likely to recommend an X-ray, CT scan or MRI scan.
Simple X-rays may be sufficient to identify or rule out certain breaks, but CT scans provide a 3D visualization of the area. MRIs provide a more detailed cross-section but are not usually required for bone injuries.
The treatment for a broken or fractured bone will depend on the fracture type, location, and severity of the injury. Options generally include:
- Immobilization of the body part using a cast
- Surgery (sometimes using metal plates rods, pins, screws, etc.)
- Bone grafts
After the bone has healed, physical therapy and rehabilitation may be required before the resumption of normal activities is possible.
Why CT scans may miss broken bone injuries
CT scans can help identify bone fractures and breaks but they are not perfect—and sometimes miss small fractures or misdiagnose related problems.
CT scans are formed from X-rays taken at multiple angles to form a single image of the designated body area. This usually provides considerable detail, but bone injuries may not be detected in the following cases:
- If the CT scanner is old and not fitted with the latest technology.
- If the fracture has not fully formed, as can be the case immediately after an accident (it may only show up later).
- Where soft tissue injuries are also present and causing pain, such as from whiplash or spinal cord injuries—in such cases, MRI scans are more advisable.
- Where human error from the radiologist, who may be inexperienced or negligent, affects the results.
- If the physician erroneously highlights the wrong area of the body to analyze.
What if my CT scan is normal but I am still in pain?
If your CT scan results appear normal, tell the doctor if you are still in pain or experiencing other symptoms. Soft tissue injuries may not show up on CT scans or X-rays and may require an MRI.
Some of the most serious car accident injuries involve brain trauma or spinal cord damage, which are best diagnosed using detailed MRI imaging. Specialists may also order psychological and neuropsychological testing to detect brain injuries, as well as other high-tech imaging, such as magnetoencephalography (MEG), Diffusion Weight imaging (DWI) or MR spectroscopy.
How can a car accident lawyer help with a bone fracture injury?
After a medical checkup, diagnosis, and treatment following a car accident, one of the next steps should be to contact a personal injury lawyer experienced in car accidents in the local Kansas City area.
A seasoned car accident lawyer will help you fight for the maximum possible compensation by thoroughly investigating the accident, proving liability, and dealing with the relevant insurance companies as you recover from your bone fracture(s) or broken bone(s).
Getting full and fair compensation is not usually straightforward because insurance companies try everything to minimize payouts. An experienced lawyer will be ready for these strategies, build a robust case in your favor, and be prepared to go to trial if necessary.
To ensure you claim what you are entitled to after an accident in the Greater Kansas City area, please contact Noland Law Firm, LLC, for a free case evaluation. Call us at (816) 781-5055 or contact us directly online.
