What happens with a misdiagnosed fracture?

A broken bone has the ability to heal itself, but often, you will need intervention to ensure proper healing. If you seek medical care for a fracture and the doctor fails to properly diagnose you, it could set you up for complications or issues.

Bones require certain things to heal, and in a misdiagnosis situation, they may not get what they need. Your fracture misdiagnosis could cause you long-lasting problems.

Missing healing elements

To properly heal a bone must have a good blood supply. Often, with a break, the bone is laying in a way that prevents blood from getting to it in the normal way. To help with this, you need stability of the bone. Usually, a doctor will realign your bone and stabilize it with a cast or brace.

In a misdiagnosis situation, the doctor will not likely provide you with the stabilization you need, which could reduce the blood flow and prolong healing. You will usually notice something is not right because you will continue to have pain in the area long after the doctor said you should be fine.

Fixing the error

To fix the issue, you will probably have to have surgery. The doctor will need to rebreak the bone, undoing any healing that has taken place. You will have a longer time to recover. Plus, you will have exposure to all the risks of surgery, such as blood loss. Infection risks also increase.

If the doctor had properly diagnosed your fracture in the beginning, you would have had a reduced recovery time, less pain, and less hassle. You would not have as many risks, either. In addition, you would have spent less money.