Though crush injuries tend to happen more in physically dangerous jobs such as construction work, it is possible for them to happen anywhere, at any time and to any person.
Thus, it is important to understand how a crush injury may affect the body, and to what degree those impacts can last and spread.
Extremity crush injuries
Medline Plus discusses the serious impact of crush injuries. Due to the nature of a crush injury itself, almost every single crush injury that happens will have a level of high severity. Many crush injuries also turn out fatal.
Crush injuries are generally divided into two categories. This includes crush injuries to the extremities and crush injuries to the torso. Each has its own primary negative effects, and both can potentially cause deadly damage.
Crush injuries to the extremities may result in cutting off blood supply and circulation to the limbs. If carried on for long enough, the affected limb may end up necrotizing and dying due to a lack of oxygen and blood. This can then quickly lead to infection such as gangrene. In severe cases, sepsis may occur.
Torso crush injuries
Crush injuries to the torso put an enormous strain on the internal organs, on the other hand. They can impede blood flow and even lead to organ failure due to the overworking of certain organs or the deprivation of blood from others.
In either case, if the victim does not get immediate and accurate treatment, it is possible for these conditions to quickly grow fatal. This is why crush injuries should always get serious attention from the start, and why people should not act too hastily if they do not know how to safely handle the situation.
