Road Rash Injuries May Require Skin Grafting Treatments
Road rash, which occurs when multiple layers of skin are scraped away after an accident victim slides along the asphalt, is a common injury amongst motorcyclists. This kind of injury can be devastating, leaving injured parties to seek painful treatment, like skin grafting, which in turn can leave an injured party with significant scarring. Paying for this treatment is prohibitively expensive, which is why it’s so important for accident victims who weren’t at fault for their injuries, to seek compensation from the person who caused their crash.
What is Road Rash?
Road rash is a type of severe friction burn in which many layers of a victim’s skin are scraped away. They are classified into four different categories:
- First degree road rash, which is characterized by small scrapes, tenderness, redness, bruising, and slight bleeding;
- Second degree road rash, which involves extreme swelling, bleeding, and a feeling of heat; and
- Third degree road rash, which occurs when the skin is scraped completely off, exposing the muscle, tendons, nerves, and even bones over a large area of the body.
The type of treatment that a road rash victim requires will depend in large part on the severity of the injury from which he or she suffers. First and second degree road rash, for instance, often require cleaning, bandaging, rest, and protection from infection. Third degree road rash, on the other hand, usually requires surgical repair, including skin grafting.
What is Skin Grafting?
Skin grafting is a type of procedure that involves removing a healthy patch of skin from one area of the body (the donor site) and transplanting it to another. The donor site can be any area of the body, although it is usually taken from places that are hidden by clothes, like the inner thigh. Most skin grafts are split-thickness grafts, which requires the taking of the top two layers of skin from the donor site, as well as one layer underneath the donor site. Those with deeper tissue loss, on the other hand, may require a full-thickness graft, which requires the entire thickness of skin from the donor site. Once removed, the graft is spread on the damaged area and held in place by stitches, staples, or well-padded dressings. Eventually, the skin will heal, covering the damaged area.
Recovering Compensation
Skin grafting is a complicated, expensive, and extremely painful procedure. It also comes with a lot of risk, including infection, bleeding, skin loss, reduced sensitivity, and scarring. Accident victims who undergo this procedure will also be in recovery for a while, with most being unable to work for weeks or even months, all while trying to focus on rehabilitation and paying off medical bills. It is, however, possible for accident victims to recover compensation for these losses from the at-fault party who caused their motorcycle crash and subsequent injuries.
Helping You Seek Fair Compensation
If you were injured in a motorcycle accident and suffered from road rash, you could be entitled to compensation for your medical bills, lost wages, and pain and suffering. Contact the dedicated Tulsa motorcycle accident lawyers at Levinson Law, P.C. to learn more.
Sources:
uwhealth.org/healthfacts/trauma/6820.html
mountsinai.org/health-library/surgery/skin-graft
