A common symptom of a fracture to the foot – whether it be to the heel, ankle, or toes – is pain. However, if you have diabetic neuropathy then you may not have this common foot fracture symptom. This is because the high blood sugar levels you have with diabetes can cause damage to the nerves of your legs and feet, and lead to less sensation than normal in your feet. Just because you may not be as sensitive to foot pain with diabetic neuropathy does not always excuse your doctor missing your foot fracture though.
Even without complaints of pian, your treating doctor should consider and rule out a fracture if the nature of your injury indicates you may have suffered one. For example, if you fell on your feet from a large height, or if you suffered a crushing injury to your foot. Your foot may also have redness and swelling which can indicate a foot fracture.
As someone with diabetic neuropathy it is especially important for your doctor to rule out foot fracture because you are at a higher risk of developing Charcot foot if your foot fracture is not treated timely. Charcot foot is damage your foot suffers due to a delay in treatment of an injury to the foot which leads to more damage occurring to your foot overtime. Because you are less sensitive to pain in your foot, you could be walking on an injured, broken foot without knowing it causing worse damage and making it much more difficult to repair your foot fracture with surgery.
How can your doctor rule out a foot fracture when you have diabetic neuropathy? Depending on the circumstances of your injury and symptoms, one way is to order a CT scan or MRI while making you nonweightbearing. Nonweightbearing means to not walk on and put weight on your foot. Your foot would also be put in a cast or boot to stabilize it. That way you are not walking on your foot and making things worse while you wait on the results of your CT scan or MRI. The CT scan or MRI should be able to pick up a fracture in your foot that may not be easily seen on an X-Ray. Even if your doctor only performed an X-Ray which was negative, if you have ongoing swelling in your foot that is not improving, your doctor should consider making you nonweightbearing and ordering a CT scan or MRI to rule out a fracture.
Besides proving negligence your attorney will also have to determine whether earlier treatment of your foot fracture would have changed your outcome. For example, did you initially have a fracture that could have been treated with casting and rest, but now needs significant surgery because it is much worse off. This may be the case if your foot fracture went from a nondisplaced fracture when it was missed to a displaced fracture when it is eventually diagnosed. One type of surgery to your foot that can have a large impact on your life is fusion surgery. Following fusion surgery you will be much less mobile with the affected foot. As noted above you may have developed Charcot foot which could have been avoided if your foot fracture was diagnosed and treated sooner.
In order to determine whether your fracture should have been diagnosed and treated sooner, and whether the surgery you needed and life limitations you now have could have been avoided, your attorney will obtain your medical records and consult with medical experts. The Thistle Law Firm are experienced at handling cases involving people with diabetic neuropathy who had a foot fracture that was missed and not diagnosed. If you have diabetic neuropathy, had a foot fracture that was missed, and you suffered harm as a result, the attorneys at The Thistle Law Firm are here to take your call and answer your questions at 215-568-6800.