You can face various types of injuries such as head injury, ankle injury, broken ribs, broken bones, internal bleeding, knee injuries, and so on due to various kinds of accidents. An ankle injury can cause bone misalignment, swelling of the ankle, severe pain, inability to walk, numbness of the ankle, bluish colour in the ankle, bleeding or break in the skin. All of these are signs of serious injury that require immediate treatment. If the doctor finds significant damage or risk of damage in the near future, then surgery may become necessary.
Complications in Foot and Ankle Fracture Surgery
The main aim of surgical treatment of an ankle fracture is to restore the displacement of the ankle caused by the accident. However, for many reasons, the normality of the ankle after surgery may not be achieved. Infection in the surgical spot may occur due to the wrong management of ankle fracture on the part of the orthopedic surgeon. Besides, the recurrence of postoperative ankle fracture infection may also arise in the patient. This may lead to potentially devastating consequences such as permanent disability, amputation or even in worst cases, death. Thus, the risk factor in case of ankle surgery, on the part of the surgeon is immense. It is dependent on the type of surgical implant used by the surgeon, use of non-occlusive dressings, the skill of the surgeon which depends on the number of previous operations undertaken by him and postoperative immobilization.
Need for Orthopedic Expert Witness in case of a Surgical Mistake
An orthopedic expert witness practice on areas related to orthopedic surgery such as knee surgery, ankle surgery, elbow surgery, shoulder surgery, wrist surgery, hand surgery, orthopedic physical therapy, post-trauma reconstruction, and sports medicine. The orthopedic surgery experts are doctors who are specialized and certified surgeons, hired by the attorney, in case a medical lawsuit is filed by the patient due to surgical errors. In case of infections after ankle surgery due to the negligence of the doctor, the patient can file a medical lawsuit against the doctor. Here, the orthopedic expert witnesses help by providing medico-legal guidance. They provide information in details in the form of reviews and reports which help in cases related to post-surgical complications. This guidance is very useful for the attorney as he can build a strong case of medical malpractice with the help of the orthopedic medical witness.
Compensation Claims for Ankle Injuries
Sustained ankle problems due to medical negligence by the surgeon may make the patient, claim for compensation. Pain and suffering of the patient and impact on a person’s standard of living may result in direct compensation claims. For modest ankle injuries, such as fractures, sprains and ligament injury, the compensation will be minimal. For severe ankle injuries such as sustained transmalleolar fracture of the ankle and extensive damage of soft tissue after an operation, leading to deformity of the leg and amputation problems, very severe ankle injury compensation has to be given to the patient.