Suffering a ruptured spleen in a bike accident is serious

The human body has multiple parts that serve various purposes. In some cases, a body part may suffer harm that requires it to be removed. People can live without certain organs, but the removal of an organ can put you at risk for infection and cause other potential serious threats to your health in the future. As a result, even if you can continue living, you will likely need to live differently.

If you commonly go for bicycle rides in Florida, you may know you face serious risk of getting hit by a vehicle or suffering some other serious accident. Unfortunately, in such an accident, you risk suffering harm to your internal organs, and it is possible for you to suffer severe harm to your spleen.

Damage to the spleen

You may already know that people can live without their spleen, but it is not ideal to suffer an injury and need a surgeon to remove it. Still, that is a risk you could face as a bicyclist. If you get hit by a vehicle and the handlebars of your bike hit you in the abdomen, the chances are high that your spleen can suffer damage. If your spleen ruptures, you could experience internal bleeding, which can cause even more complications and health risks.

Assessing how you feel

After an accident, it may be difficult to immediately know how you feel. Often, adrenaline can mask the feelings of pain, but you may experience such intense pain that you know that something is wrong. Some symptoms that could point to a ruptured spleen include the following:

• Pain on your left side under your rib cage
• Left shoulder pain due to nerve irritation caused by the rupture
• Fainting
• Confusion
• Blurred vision
• Nausea

Some of these symptoms could result due to a drop in blood pressure resulting from internal bleeding.

Getting medical attention

A ruptured spleen is a serious injury that needs immediate medical attention. Medical professionals will conduct tests and scans to determine whether you have suffered this injury. If the injury is minor, the spleen may heal on its own, but if there is significant internal bleeding or if the rupture has caused your vital signs to drop, you may need emergency surgery. During surgery, doctors commonly remove the entire spleen, but repairing a tear may be possible.

Though you can live without your spleen, you would face higher risks of life-threatening infections since the spleen works to fight infections in the body. As a result, you could have to make life-altering decisions in order to account for your increased risks. If this does happen to you, you may have reason to take legal action against the driver who caused the incident that led to your injury. A personal injury claim could allow you to seek compensation for allowable damages.