Abdominal Injury Lawyer in St. Louis, MO

Today’s cars, trucks, and other motor vehicles come equipped with a wide array of safety features designed to protect us in the event of sudden collisions. It’s impossible for car manufacturers to remove all risk, especially when the roads are home to so many negligent drivers and other hazards.

To be clear, seat belts save lives. Seat belts keep occupants in the vehicle thus greatly increasing survival rate in a crash. While the crash is the CAUSE of your injuries, some side effects of being in a crash where seat belts can result in bruising etc. Doctors, nurses, and EMTs all across the country are familiar with what they call “the seatbelt sign,” a distinctive bruising of the chest and stomach common to car accident victims. Unfortunately, bruising is just the tip of the iceberg for the potential abdominal injuries that can occur in a car accident.

If you’re injured in a crash, the personal injury lawyers at The Cagle Law Firm can help. It doesn’t matter if your accident was caused by a reckless motorist or defective road conditions: abdominal injuries can be life-threatening, painful, and traumatizing. They can also leave you with significant medical debts, transportation issues, and lost income.

If you’ve been hurt in a car accident through no fault of your own, an abdominal injury lawyer in St. Louis, MO, can get you the compensation you deserve.

Signs You May Have an Undiagnosed Abdominal Injury

If you’ve been the victim of a car accident, it’s essential to see a doctor right away, regardless of how “minor” the accident may have been or how well you may feel in the first few moments after. Injuries suffered during vehicle collisions aren’t always immediately apparent. Some symptoms may not emerge until hours or even a few days after the incident. Here are some abdominal injury warning signs to keep in mind.

Pain and Swelling

A rear-end or head-on accident often results in vehicle occupants being violently thrust forward in their seats. For the driver, this can result in their abdomen impacting the steering wheel. In contrast, both drivers and passengers may experience injury due to seatbelts digging into their chest and stomach’s soft tissue. This can cause blood vessels or even internal organs to rupture, causing intense pain and stomach distention as the abdominal cavity fills with blood.

Nausea and Vomiting

Nausea and vomiting are not uncommon when a person suffers from abdominal trauma in a car accident. If the symptom is experienced only briefly immediately following the impact, you should closely monitor your symptoms. If nausea or vomiting persists, this can be a sign of a larger problem, most notably injuries to the liver or spleen. Due to their location in the upper portion of the abdomen, the liver and spleen are among the most vulnerable and most commonly injured internal organs.

Nausea and vomiting can also be symptoms of a head injury. Thus, these symptoms must be addressed right away with a doctor to rule out abdominal injuries and head injuries.

Bloody Urine and Stool

Blood appearing in urine or stool should always be considered a high-priority emergency. That said, it’s not always easy to detect. Blood in the urine is often diluted enough to lose its telltale red color, making paying attention to even slight discoloration in urine color all the more critical. Blood in fecal matter, meanwhile, typically takes on a black, tar-like appearance. In both cases, the presence of blood in urine or feces, especially following a recent car accident, indicates internal bleeding or kidney/bowel injuries.

Call an Abdominal Injury Lawyer in St. Louis, MO

Nothing is more important than your health and well-being. The damages caused by a car accident-induced abdominal injury don’t end when the bruises heal and the bandages are removed. Hospital bills, emotional duress, and permanent disabilities are just some of the ways the aftermath of a car accident can last for years, if not the rest of your life.

That’s why, at The Cagle Law Firm, we believe that helping you obtain the compensation you’re entitled to is worth every ounce of our considerable legal experience, knowledge, and skill. Let us put these things to work for you. Our abdominal injury lawyers in St. Louis, MO, look forward to hearing from you.

Contact The Cagle Law Firm toll-free at (1-800) 685-3302 or locally at (314) 276-1681 to consult about your options.