Crush Injury Treatment

Simply put, a crush injury means squeezing one of your body parts between two heavy objects resulting in dire consequences such as injuries. Most crush injuries occur because of inadequate force or incomplete knowledge of a complex machine while using it. 

These injuries can thoroughly affect your bones, muscles, skin, and tendons. In some cases, it can also result in fractures that can penetrate the skin, which is also known as a compound fracture. 

Most serious cases are seen in the field of agriculture because of heavy and complex farming machines and equipment. This medical situation is treated with the help of antibiotics and fasciotomy.

What are crush injuries?

Whenever a part of the body, such as a hand, leg, fingers, etc., gets squashed between two heavy objects, such as a tire and a road, that body part gets damaged, resulting in excruciating pain known as Crush injuries. These injuries mostly take place because of a lack of focus and knowledge of the workings of a heavy machine or any mishappening due to some reason or other.

The severity of these injuries varies as per their cause. For instance, if your hand gets crushed between two familiar objects, such as a door and a wall, with minimum force, then you might only get a few scratches. 

Whereas if an individual's limb gets crushed by a heavy machine/rock, then it might result in a fracture. In some cases, especially the ones that include fragile body parts such as the head, the injury might also become the reason for immediate death.

Causes of crush injuries

Given below is a list of several leading causes that are accountable for most of the crush injuries:

• When transporting huge hay or wool bundles,
• When working with animals in yards or small areas
• During harvesting or firewood chopping
• While transporting farm equipment
• Building structural failures caused by earthquakes and other factors
• Machine injuries in the workplace
• Fingers becoming locked within doors for extended periods of time
• Legs becoming caught under heavy items over lengthy periods of time
• automobile collisions
• Accidents at work or at home
• Falling from high altitudes
• Lifting hefty weights for a prolonged period of time.

Symptoms & Risks

Check out the following symptoms of Crush Injuries: 

• Bleeding: It is said to be the most common symptom when it comes to physical injuries. Irrespective of the size of the objects you got your limbs crushed between, it'll bleed first, and other underlying damage will be found after the diagnosis.

• Bruising: Bruising means bleeding under the skin that may cause excruciating pain. It occurs when a body part has to go through excess trauma. In some cases, when one of your limbs gets squashed by two blunt yet heavy objects, then that can directly lead to bruising. 

• Pain: It is the inevitable symptom of any injury or trauma. Irrespective of the type of injury and affected area, the human body feels pain. Although its severity depends on the object, it took place 'cause of and the affected area. 

• Numbness: In some cases, an individual may feel numbness in the affected area or limb rather than pain. The numbness occurs due to excess force exerted on any part of the body. One cannot feel pain when a body part is numb, but as soon as the numbness decreases, the person will begin to feel the pain.

• Inflammation: When tissues get injured by these injuries, chemicals are released that make blood vessels leak fluids, resulting in swelling. Swelling and inflammation make it challenging to make movements and alter the structure of the affected area. 

• Difficulty in moving: After you get to face a crush injury, it will become difficult for you to move the affected area because of excruciating pain, swelling, numbness, and other post-injury traumas. 

Risks of Crush Injuries 

Considering the seriousness of the injury, there's a possibility that other risks might occur because of the existing crush injuries. Enlisted below are a few risks that can be developed if you're facing a crush injury:

• Compartment syndrome: When a muscle is restricted from adequate blood supply for a more extended period, then this syndrome can occur, resulting in death or lifelong damage to that muscle.

• Infection: In many crush injury cases, metal or iron objects are responsible for the wound or damage caused to an individual. When a person gets injured by a metal, there's a higher chance of developing an infection in the body which can be risky for other organs and can lead to organ failure.

• Permanent damage: In several severe cases where the injury isn't treated properly, or an inappropriate method is opted to treat it, it might result in permanent damage to the wounded area or limb.

• Internal damage: When a muscle or a tissue dies because of this injury, the dead tissue releases its components in the blood. It might result in damage to other internal organs.

Treatment of crush injuries

1. Surgical methods: Doctors usually opt for surgical methods when it is impossible to cure these crush injuries with medication and drugs or when they are too severe. For instance, it is impossible to fix a broken bone without surgery that might've taken place because of being crushed between two heavy objects. In such cases, surgery becomes inevitable if you want to get your bone appropriately fixed so that it does not result in any permanent damage or underlying condition.

2. Non-surgical methods: Non-surgical methods include prescribing medication, using antibiotics, bone manipulation, applying ointments, etc. These non-surgical methods are opted for when the injury isn't too severe such as a broken bone, or is only on the surface. 

In this method of treatment, doctors prescribe medicines and physical exercises that help you in reducing pain, swelling, and numbness because there's no need for surgery if you're only having a scratch or some swelling in your limbs.

3. Home remedies: Some people also prefer self-medication rather than consulting a professional when the severity of injuries isn't that high. People treat such injuries at home by applying ointments on scratches and using heating bags & ice packs for swelling and pain. 

Why is Cutis Hospital for crush injuries?

In order to give you the best care and help possible, Cutis Hospital puts a high priority on the standard of service, the safety of all treatments, and the regard for your privacy. For the sake of our patients, we are committed to reaching and sustaining high standards in healthcare, research, and services.

Skilled healthcare experts 

Crush injuries can be really complex sometimes. Most crush injuries require medical attention regardless of the injury and affected area. Doctors at cutis are professionally trained, and they have years of practical experience in treating such injuries. 

Through treatment 

It is necessary to examine the patient correctly in order to diagnose the injury properly. Otherwise, it may have due consequences such as infection in the long run. These professionals conduct all kinds of mandatory tests, which aids them in gathering information regarding past injuries and underlying conditions of the patients. Doing so helps them in deciding what kind of treatment would suit best for the patient.

Proper hygiene facilities 

It is also necessary to maintain the hygiene of the staff, surroundings, and equipment that are used for the surgery to ensure the safety of the patient. If proper hygiene is not maintained or equipment is not cleaned on a regular basis, then it might become the reason for the occurrence of infection in a patient's body. At Cutis, hygiene is taken care of thoroughly, and equipment is cleaned after every use to ensure the safety of the patient.