Seven figure recovery for amputation due to emergency room failure to discover injury to artery

In order for any tissue in the body to remain viable, it must receive adequate blood supply, and it
is the function of arteries to carry oxygen-rich blood to all tissue throughout the body. If there is
an interruption of blood supply in an artery, and if that interruption lasts long enough, the tissue
distal to, or beyond the point of blockage, can slowly die due to so-called ischemic harm.

In this case, our client, a woman in her late-50s, entered an Allegheny County emergency room
after suffering a high-impact injury to her knee. The knee is surrounded by various blood
vessels, including particularly the popliteal artery which supplies blood to the portions of the leg
below the knee. High impact, traumatic injuries to the knee can sometimes cause injury to that
popliteal artery since it sits directly behind the knee joint. In this case, our client went to the
emergency room immediately after suffering a high-impact knee injury at work, but the ER staff
did not look close enough for the possibility of injury to the adjacent popliteal artery. She was
sent home with a diagnosis of a simple leg sprain, but over the next few days blood supply to the
lower leg was compromised to the point that when she voluntarily returned to the hospital with
her leg showed signs of significant ischemic damage. She was transferred for emergency surgery
to restore blood supply, but by that time it was too late; the leg had suffered irreparable ischemic
damage and the patient, unfortunately, underwent an amputation.

We relied on experts in emergency medicine, vascular surgery, and radiology in order to prove
our case. Those experts said that an injury to the artery should have been suspected because the
knee was partially dislocated to the rear, and it is well known in the medical field that dislocation
of the knee that happens during a high impact injury can cause damage to the popliteal artery
located behind the knee.

In any amputation case, it is important to show the full range of impact on our client’s day-to-day
life. For example, amputations patients are either relegated to a wheelchair or they must learn
the difficult, and sometimes delicate, task of walking with a prosthetic leg, something that can
take months and months of fittings and practice to accomplish. In addition to the impact on our
client’s lifestyle, amputation also usually requires a life care plan that describes in great detail the
cost of all future medical equipment and services that the patient will require. Last, there is the
obvious emotional trauma and loss of ordinary pleasures of life that are present in virtually any
amputation case. All of those factors contributed to the total damage argument we made in the
case.