Crush injuries are a serious type of bodily injury that occurs when a heavy or large object compresses, flattens, crushes or pins part or all of a person’s body.
It is important to understand how crush injuries happen and the ways that they can impact a person.
Extremity crush injuries
Up To Date discusses the impact of crush injuries on health. Crush injuries typically manifest in one of two ways: crush injuries to the torso or trunk area, and crush injuries to the limbs or extremities. Each of these types comes with its own unique risks and damages.
For example, if a person suffers a crush injury to the hand or foot, one of the biggest risks is that of amputation. Areas of these delicate body parts can end up crushed beyond repair, and it is not uncommon for victims to end up losing toes or fingers to crush injuries.
On top of that, these types of injuries are incredibly susceptible to tissue loss, necrosis of tissue and even sepsis. This can put a victim’s life at risk, as sepsis can kill a person in less than three days after symptoms kick in.
Torso crush injuries
As for torso or trunk crush injuries, the biggest risks tend to come from the organs. Specifically, organ failure is a major component of these dangers. Due to the lack of blood flow or the increased pressure to certain areas of the body, organs may shut down or start to overwork. This can lead to entire system failures in just a few hours.
Either way, the damage is swift and potentially deadly, which is why crush injuries are almost always severe.