From Greenstick Fracture To Amputation: Why This May Be Medical Malpractice
Posted on: 18 April 2018
A greenstick fracture is a bone break whereby one or more bones are broken across the transverse section of the bone(s) to the middle of the bone(s). Greenstick fractures are typically only found in children teens, but young adults can have them too. If you were in an accident and came into the hospital with an open greenstick fracture (i.e., broken bones jutting out through the flesh), and you ended up with an amputation, this may be grounds for medical malpractice.
Your Bones Are Young and Can Heal
Because of your age, and the rapid healing rate of your bones, you should not have had an amputation without an express danger to your life and/or health. If you went immediately from the accident to the hospital, it is unlikely that enough time had passed for an extreme infection of the open bone break and wounds. That means it is highly unlikely that your bones could not have been set and your flesh cleaned and sewn up.
An Open Bone Break and Wounds Can Be Treated
Despite the truly gruesome nature of broken bones jutting out of the flesh in a bloody mess, trained doctors can fix this. It does require some time in an emergency room, and the ability to open up the wounds, push the bones back in place, sew up muscle and soft tissues, and then place a cast on the affected body part. Even when there is a lot of debris in the wounds, your surgeon should still be able to clean the wounds and treat the broken bones and cut flesh. An amputation is only reserved for wounds that already have gangrene infections, or by doctors who chose to be lazy and sloppy.
If You Think the Surgeon Chose to Be Lazy and Sloppy
If you believe you lost the affected body part because the surgeon was lazy and/or sloppy, this is medical malpractice. You have the burden of proving that he/she just decided to cut off the body part rather than fix it. You can do that if you have your medical records from the time you were admitted, and you remember as much about the incident as you can up until you were sedated. (An amputation always requires sedation to keep the patient as still as possible for the bone saw.) Provide everything you have on your accident to a medical malpractice attorney for an evaluation of your case.
Contact a law office like R.J. Marzella & Associates, P.C. for more information and assistance.
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