Blindness Following Facial Fractures

Blindness Following Facial Fractures

Blindness Following Facial Fractures

I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer. Car accidents can range widely in their severity. Even fender benders can result in serious injuries. According to information published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:

  • Thousands of people are killed every year in the United States in car accidents.
  • For each person killed in a car crash, an additional eight people spent time in hospitals.
  • About 100 people visit an emergency room for every person killed in an accident.

These numbers emphasize the scope and severity of car accidents. There are many different types of serious injuries that someone can sustain in a car crash. Some of the most common injuries include bone fractures. Common locations of bone fractures are the wrist, upper arm, and lower leg. However, facial fractures are of particular concern. In a car crash, the head is not restrained and can strike the dashboard or steering wheel, leading to facial fractures. According to a recent study, people can suffer blindness as a result of these facial injuries.

Research Study: Blindness from Facial Fractures

A recent study was published exploring facial fractures that occur in auto accidents. A team of medical professionals looked at 14,000 patients who sustained facial fractures and analyzed the complications that they developed. Based on their findings, about 2 percent of individuals with facial fractures sustained visual issues. These issues ranged from blurriness in one or both eyes to double vision, astigmatism, and even visual loss in part or all of their visual field.

The professionals also divided the facial fractures up by type. Periorbital and blowout fractures were more common than other ocular injuries.

  • A periorbital facial fracture is a fracture of the bones that reside around the eye itself.
  • A blowout fracture involves the complete destruction of the orbit or the bones that encase the globe of the eye.

Furthermore, if these facial fractures are open fractures, they have a high risk of infection. Some patients developed brain abscesses as a result that required hospital admission and intravenous antibiotics. One particular type of fracture called zygomatic fracture carried a higher risk of blindness than other fracture types.

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Personal Injury Lawyers in Sacramento

I’m Ed Smith, a Sacramento Personal Injury Lawyer. Visual issues need to be considered in any auto accident leading to a facial fracture. If someone you know has suffered blindness due to facial injuries in a car crash, please contact me today at (916) 921-6400 or (800) 404-5400 for free, friendly legal advice.

I am honored to be a part of California’s chapter of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

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Photo Attribution: The picture at the beginning of this blog post can be seen on pixabay.com. The photo has been shown here under the CCo, Creative Commons License.

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