A thoracic injury affects the area between the neck and the abdomen. It can involve damage to your ribs, chest walls, organs, and blood vessels, and could be severe enough to be life-threatening.
These varied forms of thoracic trauma, ranging from common fractures to severe organ damage, highlight the serious and often life-threatening consequences that can result from physical accidents and necessitate legal guidance for securing rightful compensation.
If you have sustained a thoracic injury in a car accident, fall, or any other type of physically traumatic incident, you may be able to file a personal injury case seeking compensation.
Types of Thoracic Injuries
From stress fractures to catastrophic injuries like organ damage, there are numerous types of thoracic injuries you can suffer.
Rib Fractures
Rib fractures can cause pain and instability in your chest. If more than one rib breaks, you can develop flail chest, which is a medical emergency because your chest cavity can collapse, leading to breathing difficulties. Treating rib breaks is complex, and you can experience significant pain. There is also the added risk of a rib puncturing an organ.
Lung Contusion
A lung contusion is a bruised lung. It causes bleeding and swelling, impacting the alveoli (air sacs) and disrupting the oxygen exchange. This leads to shortness of breath and pain. Your oxygen levels can drop severely, and your heart rate can increase.
Pneumothorax
A pneumothorax is a collapsed lung. It occurs when air leaks between the lungs and the chest wall. This places a huge amount of pressure on the lungs, leading them to collapse. You could experience shortness of breath and pain on one side of your chest. You could also develop a cough.
Hemothorax
Hemothorax is a condition in which blood collects in the area between the lungs and the chest wall. The pressure of the collected blood can be enough to result in a collapsed lung. It’s a medical emergency.
Cardiac Tamponade
A cardiac tamponade occurs when fluid of any kind builds up in the area around the heart. It results in pressure that doesn’t allow the heart to beat, preventing it from pumping blood throughout the body.
This injury can result in organ failure and shock, so it’s essential to get medical care as soon as symptoms like low blood pressure, muffled heartbeats, and bulging neck veins appear.
Aortic Disruption
An aortic disruption is the tearing or rupturing of the aorta, which is your body’s main artery. Everything from workplace accidents with heavy machinery, assaults, and collisions can cause these life-threatening injuries. They require a stent repair or immediate surgery to avoid severe blood loss.
Diaphragmatic Rupture
A diaphragmatic rupture is the tearing of the diaphragm muscle. Abdominal organs can push through the torn muscle and into the chest cavity, which could lead to organ herniation, breathing problems, and internal bleeding.
Legal Steps After a Thoracic Injury
After sustaining a thoracic injury as a result of another party’s negligent or wrongful conduct, you may be entitled to compensation. That requires knowing your legal options, however.
If the injury occurred at work, for example, you could file a workers’ compensation claim if your employer has this insurance. If they do, you can receive coverage for your medical expenses and lost wages. Accepting workers’ compensation might mean you won’t be able to sue them. The only way you could sue in that scenario is if a third party was also involved in the accident.
For other types of accidents, such as those that occur in crashes or falls that another party causes, you can likely file a personal injury lawsuit. A successful case generally requires establishing that the defendant owed you a duty of care, that they breached it, and that their conduct resulted in your thoracic injury.
Economic and Non-Economic Damages You Can Seek
If you begin a personal injury claim, you can receive economic damages that cover the medical expenses you incurred from the injury. A thoracic injury can require extensive medical care, including surgery, and might even mean needing future treatments. All of this needs to be accounted for in your settlement or judgment.
Economic damages also cover the income you may have lost. You’ve likely needed to take time off to recover from your injuries, resulting in not getting wages or commissions that you would have otherwise received. Additionally, you can be compensated for your loss of earning potential if you can’t return to work.
Non-economic damages cover pain and suffering, as well as any diminishment in the quality of life that you’ve experienced because of the injury.
An attorney can help assess the severity of your injury and its impact on your daily life to determine the appropriate compensation you can pursue for your losses.
Schedule a Free Consultation With a Harrisburg Personal Injury Attorney From Marzzacco Niven & Associates Today
After suffering a thoracic injury, you may be entitled to file a claim and receive compensation. To have the best possible chance of succeeding, you need assistance from tenacious and experienced attorneys. At Marzzacco Niven & Associates, our team can fight for the compensation you deserve.
Contact us at (717) 231-1640 to schedule a free consultation with one of our Harrisburg personal injury lawyers today.