One of the most common injuries that car crash victims suffer are broken legs. The extreme, sudden force behind the impact of a car wreck is just what it takes to fracture a bone and leave you with an inconvenient, painful injury. The three leg bones that can be fractured in an accident include the:
- Femur – thigh bone
- Tibia – shin bone
- Fibula – parallel to the tibia
The femur is fairly strong and while it can certainly break, fractures of the tibia and fibula are far more common and frequently happen together. The tibia is stronger than the fibula and handles a lot of the load-carrying work. The fibula is long and thin and attaches at the knee and ankle to the outside of the tibia.
What happens after the break will be up to the doctors at the hospital. An X-ray will be taken to properly evaluate the fracture and determine the severity of the injury. Not every broken leg simply goes into a cast for a few weeks; if an injury is bad enough, the patient will need to undergo surgery to correct the problem. They may need to implant things like rods or screws to keep the bones in place while they heal, or they may need to do a bit more if the bone broke through the skin in the accident. If a break is bad enough, it could permanently affect the way a person walks forever.
Breaking your leg in a car crash can be extremely painful and between the time it takes to heal and undergo rehabilitation, it can feel like forever until you're able to walk on your own again.
If you were seriously injured in a car crash in Texas, Oklahoma or Arkansas, contact Girards Law for a completely free consultation at 888.897.2762