Most Common Internal Injuries From Car Accidents

After a car accident, you may feel fine, but you could have suffered internal injuries that aren’t showing symptoms yet. It’s essential to receive medical care so you can be aware of any invisible injuries you may have suffered in the accident.

At Laborde Earles, our Lafayette car accident lawyer can help you recover physically and financially after suffering internal injuries. Our legal team has over 250 years of combined personal injury experience. Read on to learn more about the most common internal injuries from car accidents and how our team of lawyers can help.

What Are the Most Common Internal Injuries in Car Crashes?

When you suffer injuries in a Lafayette car accident, you could suffer several different types of internal injuries. Some of the most common internal injuries from car accidents include:

Brain Injuries

Traumatic brain injuries (TBI) are one of the leading causes of disability and death from car accidents. Even minor impacts or rapid changes in motion are enough to jolt the brain around inside the skull. 

This can result in bruising, bleeding, and damaged tissue within the delicate organ. Mild TBIs may cause concussions with headaches and confusion, while more severe injuries risk impairment of motor skills, cognition, behavior, or other brain functions.

Repeated concussive blows have been shown to increase the risk for long-term neurological conditions like chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE). Ongoing monitoring is important as some symptoms may not appear for hours or days after injury. Recognizing the symptoms of a traumatic brain injury following a car crash can help you get the proper treatment.

Spinal Cord Injuries

Whiplash is one of the most frequent neck injuries in car crashes, occurring when the head suddenly forces forward and back after impact. However, whiplash alone can progress into spinal cord injuries such as herniated discs, putting pressure on nerves over time. More damaging collisions risk fracturing or dislocating the vertebrae.

Injuries to the spinal cord can partially or fully interrupt communication between the brain and body below the site of damage. Even minor compression puts one at risk for quadriplegia or paraplegia. 

MRI scans help determine if surgery is needed to decompress injured areas and limit permanent paralysis outcomes. Extensive rehabilitation therapies may still be required for functional recovery of muscles, sensation, and bladder or bowel control following spinal cord injury.

Abdominal Injuries

The sharp force from an improperly positioned seatbelt or sudden deceleration during collisions concentrates traumatic forces directly onto the abdomen. Organs like the liver and spleen have less protective tissue covering and are frequently bruised or ruptured.

Internal bleeding in the abdominal cavity demands immediate surgery to stop hemorrhaging and repair torn tissues or blood vessels. Damage control is crucial, as hypovolemic shock from blood loss can swiftly lead to death without intervention. 

Lung Injuries

Ribs are frequently broken in car accidents due to forceful chest impacts with steering wheels or seatbelts. Fractured ribs can puncture the lungs, resulting in a collapsed lung (pneumothorax). Other potential injuries include bruising of lung tissue and internal bleeding into the chest cavity (hemothorax).

Severe or prolonged collapsed lungs often necessitate a chest tube insertion to re-expand the lung. Follow-up X-rays ensure proper healing without additional medical intervention needed. Lingering breathing difficulties may persist, and physical therapy later aimed at fully restoring lung capacity.

Vascular Injuries

Forceful impacts commonly cause tears in major blood vessels near injury sites like the abdomen or chest. Ruptured blood vessels can rapidly lead to hypovolemic shock from internal bleeding if not addressed.

Surgery may be urgent to access the damaged vessel, control bleeding, and repair the tear using sutures, clamps, or grafting. Major arteries ripped by seatbelts around the groin or neck are especially concerning due to high blood flow. Without stabilization, death can ensue within minutes.

Why Are Internal Injuries in Car Accidents So Dangerous?

While external injuries like lacerations or bone fractures are visible signs of trauma, the threats from internal damage are often less obvious but just as life-threatening. When you suffer internal injuries, it’s more dangerous than obvious injuries due to:

• Delayed onset of symptoms: Pain and swelling may take hours to develop after organs are injured, delaying treatment when a fast response is critical.
• Difficult to diagnose: Without specialized scans or surgery to see inside the body, determining the location and extent of internal injuries poses a challenge.
• Potential for rapid deterioration: Internal bleeding can quickly worsen into hypovolemic shock if blood vessels around injured organs rupture further without stabilization.
• The threat of multiple organ damage: Strong impacts frequently cause harm to several adjacent internal structures at once, compounding injuries.
• High infection risks: Internal wounds are exposed to germs being introduced into body cavities, which can lead to deadly complications like sepsis.
• Hidden disabilities: Lingering issues like impaired organ function after healing may not manifest for years but reduce quality of life.

Signs You Have Internal Injuries After a Lafayette Car Accident

If you were involved in a car collision, it’s important to be aware of potential internal injury symptoms that may not be obvious externally. Not seeking prompt medical evaluation for these signs could enable serious harm. Some delayed symptoms to watch for after an auto accident include:

• Persistent abdominal, chest, or back pain that increases over time instead of subsiding.
• Bruising or swelling in the abdominal region that appears hours later.
• Difficulty breathing or sharp chest pains that feel worse with movement.
• Shoulder or neck pain that radiates into the back upon inhaling.
• Dizziness, weakness, rapid pulse, or lack of urination.
• Nausea, vomiting, or bloody stools indicate upper digestive injuries.
• Headaches combined with confusion, memory loss, or visual changes after impact.
• Newly limited range of motion, tingling, or loss of feeling in extremities.

What Damages Can a Car Accident Attorney Help Recover For Internal Injuries?

For the internal injuries from the car accident, you can recover multiple damages. Here are some of the damages a car accident attorney from Laborde Earles can help recover for internal injuries include:

• Medical expenses: This includes all past and future costs for emergency response, hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, medications, medical equipment, and long-term or life care needs.
• Lost wages: If the injuries prevent you from working or cause you to miss time from work, lost income can be recovered.
• Pain and suffering: Pain associated with internal injuries and long-term prognosis is recoverable, and your lawyer can calculate your pain and suffering compensation.
• Loss of enjoyment of life: Serious internal injuries may limit activities a person was once able to do, warranting damages.
• Scarring or disfigurement: For life-long scars or disfigurement due to surgeries or damage visible during medical exams.
• Loss of consortium: If injuries severely impact relationships, loved ones can receive damages for lost companionship.
• Wrongful death: In tragic cases, families may recover financial support lost due to an accident-caused death.

Learn More About the Most Common Internal Injuries From Car Accidents

At Laborde Earles, our Lafayette car accident attorneys have experience dealing with cases involving some of the most common internal injuries from car accidents. Our team can help you build a case to recover compensation for your injuries.

Contact us to learn more about the most common internal injuries from car accidents.