A major source of rather devastating injuries such as amputations is truck collisions. In fact, 16% of the United States' overall amputations happen because of some form of physical trauma. Amputation is one of the most life-altering accident injuries a person can receive. Someone who ends up with an amputated limb will have their entire life changed forever.

Aside from being emotionally and physically painful, there's also a rather hefty burden financially on amputees.

What Causes Amputation Injury?

Before going into that, let's define amputation first. Amputation is when any extremity (like an entire arm or hand)is removed. While a limb can end up separate from the body because of an accident, many amputations are surgical. It's often the last resort when there is no more repairing the damage incurred by a limb. The common causes of amputations that come from vehicle accidents include:

● An extremity having gone through severe trauma during the collision

● An infected area, with the infection clearly spreading

● Poor blood flow to a certain limb

Post-Amputation

The recovery process after amputation is quite long. Healing takes quite a while when skin is involved; amputees also need to relearn basic tasks. As soon as the wound fully heals, there's a high likelihood of a prosthetic limb being attached.

For a person living with amputation (generally referred to as "amputee"), extensive rehabilitation is necessary to better adjust to using a prosthesis in everyday life.

There are usually major medical bills involved with amputations. This includes the cost of surgery, prescriptions for medications (such as antibiotics and pain relievers), prosthetic limbs, and physical therapy.

Victims of amputation tend to be unable to work as much as they did before the accident, which results in a loss of income. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and other forms of heavy emotional distress may also occur.

Amputation Damages

In order to get fair compensation after a truck accident causes an amputation injury, you need legal representation from a lawyer who's experienced in dealing with injuries caused by large vehicles.

Your attorney must prove that the truck driver was responsible for the collision and establish the value of your injury claim. To do so, they will investigate the cause of the accident and gather evidence from the scene of the crash. If a retinal scan detects that you have brain damage, he may also obtain medical documentation from a neurologist.

Amputation Injury Treatment

Loss of function at varying degrees is automatic after an arm, foot, hand, or leg is amputated. Plenty of victims will require prosthetics or assistive technology alongside needing to relearn certain skills before they can go back to something of a "normal" life.

Many victims that lose a limb are only at the beginning of their trauma as they undergo surgeries and therapy. Extensive psychological assistance is often necessary for amputation victims so that they can cope with disfigurement.

Luckily, researchers in today's day and age are diligently working on better assistive devices and prosthetics. In some cases, technology helps the recovery of accident victims in that they regain abilities that didn't seem possible beforehand.

Advancements in Prosthetics

One hundred eighty-five thousand people have an amputation annually, the ASME (American Society of Mechanical Engineers) finds. Around 2.1 million Americans are living with some type of limb loss. Recent advancements in prosthetics have made these figures seem a little less daunting, such as:

● 3D Printing

Pricey robotic arms use 3D printing for production. ASME says that devices that are much simpler are already being built using 3D printers. This is "for people with little means and those in developing countries."

According to the Amputee Coalition, a standard prosthetic hand can cost up to several thousands of dollars. High-end model scan go up to $10,000, while a 3D-printed hand prosthesis is at roughly $50.

Children that suffer from amputation will benefit from that low price in particular because they'll need new prostheses as they grow up.

● Artificial Intelligence

Machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) are being used by Integrum, the company which developed the consciously-controlled limb prosthesis, to let amputees control prosthetic limbs without needing to look at them. Likewise, the same technology allows sighted people to control their prostheses through eye movements.

The AI and machine learning-based prosthesis based on Coapt’s technology, and it allows users to control their arms through a “neural interface” that captures commands from their brains. This interface activates the prosthetic arm through sensors, and then it stores information about the user so it can gradually improve the way it mimics their movements.

● Consciously-Controlled Limb Prostheses

This prosthetic works through electrodes being implanted in the nerves and muscles of an amputated arm. An electrical interface then gets created through a connector embedded in a screw's end. "Neuromuscular electrodes within the implant electrically interface" with the body's sensors for a connection to be created, ASME states.

As a result, the patient will then be able to control movement with their mind.

According to ASME, this prosthetic is controlled by the accident victim's movements. It may even be possible for them to experience the sensation of touch in that area again. A study by Swedish researchers published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) covered seven patients who were fitted with “a bone-anchored, self-contained robotic arm with both sensory and motor components over 3 to 7 years in four patients [post-] transhumeral amputation."

There was also some sensation experienced by a number of patients, the NEJM shared. "Sensations elicited through direct nerve stimulation were referred to the phantom hand in all patients." In the beginning, patients were able to distinguish the shift in sensation intensity when an increase or reduction of stimulation frequency happened at 50%.

A month later, a change of around 30% in the stimulation frequency could be seen as increasing or decreasing tactile sensation intensity. Clinical trials for prosthetic arms have been underway since October 2021. Integrum is also looking to use the same technology for prosthetic limb development.

Conclusion

When truck accidents occur, one of the worst-case scenarios is amputation injuries. These generally require an extremity (arm, hand, limb, foot) to be removed due to infection, severe trauma, or blood flow. It's important to work with a lawyer who has experience in injuries from large vehicles in order to get fair compensation.

Searching Los Angeles for truck accident lawyers? Reach out to Mendez & Sanchez Law today! We’ve got attorneys and team members ready to help you pursue the compensation you deserve.