Broken leg

Broken legs and personal injury

The bones in the leg are large and extremely strong. This means that it takes a very large amount of force for them to be broken. Broken legs are therefore most commonly seen as a personal injury from a car accident.

The leg bones

The leg has four bones; the femur, patella, tibia and fibula.

The femur is also known as the thigh bone, and the upper part joins the pelvis to form the hip joint, as a ball and socket joint. When a personal injury is described as a broken hip, it is often the upper femur that is actually fractured.

The patella is the bone that protects the knee joint, otherwise known as the knee-cap. The knee-cap suspends the ligaments from the thigh muscle, and helps to add strength to the process of straightening out the leg.

The tibia, otherwise known as the shin, and the fibula, are the two bones which make up the lower leg.

Types of broken leg

There are several types of broken bones, which result as a direct result of the type of impact and the amount of forces the impact involves.

The most common type of broken bone is a simple fracture. This is where the bone fully breaks but does not pierce the skin. While there is less visual evidence, the symptoms of this personal injury are easily identifiable. There will be large amounts of worsening pain, severe swelling, bruising, and a lack of ability to bear weight.

An impacted fracture is a personal injury that is most commonly cause by falling from a great height. This is where the end of one bone is forced into another.

A spiral fracture is a break that is around the bone. Sporting injuries are the most common cause of this type of personal injury, because of the twisting motion that some sports require.

A comminuted fracture is a personal injury where a bone is broken into fragments. It is also known as a compression fracture. This type of injury most commonly occurs when large forces are involved with the impact. It is the most common type of personal injury fracture in road traffic accidents because of the large forces.

Serious Law have a great deal of experience in both the treatment and personal injury compensation of broken bones. If you would like to investigate the possibility of a personal injury claim, or to ensure you are receiving the correct level of rehabilitation to ensure your personal injury recovers appropriately, then visit our > Contact Us page for more information.

Broken leg repair process

The recovery time for a broken leg completely depends on the type of break, its severity, and other factors such as your age. As a basic guideline, a non-complex simple fracture will take around 12 week to repair. After these 8 weeks it will still be relatively week however, and should be cared for until it has fully recovered its strength.

Regardless of these variables there are four clear stages that are undergone during the healing process. A haematoma is initially created by the blood vessels in the bone. A cartilage callus then forms along the haematoma (nature’s splint). A bony callus then eventually replaces the cartilage. For the final stage, a bony callus then forms a permanent patch on the fracture.

After a period of immobilisation, usually though a cast, physiotherapy will be undertaken in order to restore the strength and flexibility that was lost from the injury.

A broken leg as a personal injury and your next steps

If you would like to investigate whether you have a personal injury claim after an accident resulting in a broken bone, then please call 0800 035 15 65 or  visit our > Contact Us page for more information.