When Imaging Misses the Injury: Undiagnosed TBIs and Spine Damage in Stamford Accident Victims

After a traumatic event, one of the first steps in the emergency room is usually diagnostic imaging. Doctors may order X-rays, CT scans, or MRIs to identify a host of medical issues, from fractures to internal bleeding. When those tests come back normal, many accident victims assume they escaped without serious injury.

Unfortunately, a normal imaging study does not always mean a person is uninjured. Some conditions are difficult to spot even with modern imaging technology, and these issues are only worsened when medical professionals are careless in their review of the images. In this guide, our experienced medical malpractice attorneys explain what undiagnosed traumatic brain injuries and spinal damage can mean to Stamford accident victims.

Why Imaging Does Not Always Reveal Serious Injuries

There is a common misconception that medical imaging can provide you with definitive answers on almost any condition. The reality is that while this technology has come a long way, there are still notable limitations to be aware of.

Different imaging studies are designed to detect different types of injuries. An X-ray is excellent for identifying many fractures but does not show soft tissue injuries well. A CT scan may detect bleeding or major structural damage but can miss subtle brain injuries. Even MRI studies, which provide detailed images of soft tissues, do not always reveal every injury.

Traumatic Brain Injuries Often Go Undetected

Traumatic brain injuries are among the most commonly overlooked accident-related injuries. Some of the conditions that are often missed include the following:

Concussions

Many people assume a concussion is a minor injury. In reality, a concussion is a form of traumatic brain injury that can produce significant symptoms and long-term complications.

A person may experience headaches, dizziness, confusion, memory problems, sensitivity to light, sleep disturbances, or difficulty concentrating. Despite these symptoms, CT scans frequently appear normal. The real problems arise when medical professionals fail to recognize or act on the obvious symptoms of a head injury.

Not every brain injury produces immediate symptoms. Some accident victims initially feel fine and begin experiencing problems days later. You might feel relatively fine in the days or weeks after a head injury, only to develop serious symptoms like chronic pain or sleep disruptions down the line.

Spinal Injuries Can Be Difficult to Diagnose

The spine is one of the most complex areas of the body, and any injury to it can have lasting consequences. This includes the following:

Herniated and Bulging Discs

A sudden impact can damage spinal discs, causing them to bulge or rupture. These injuries may compress nearby nerves, causing pain and numbness that radiate throughout the body.

Ligament and Soft Tissue Damage

The stability of the spinal column relies on ligaments and other soft tissue. Any damage to these tissues can lead to serious pain and cause problems with your ability to stand comfortably, but injuries involving these ligaments can’t be found on standard X-rays.

Nerve Injuries

Nerve damage can create symptoms that last for the rest of your life, even when X-rays and other diagnostic tests fail to find anything wrong. It’s not uncommon for someone with nerve damage to experience unexplained tingling, burning, pain, or muscle weakness. Ignoring these symptoms could potentially make the nerve damage worse.

Common Reasons These Injuries Are Missed

Several factors can contribute to a traumatic brain injury or spinal injury being overlooked after an accident. Some of the most common examples include the following:

• Initial imaging appears normal: CT scans and X-rays are useful diagnostic tools, but they don’t detect every injury. Some medical providers may place too much weight on normal imaging results and fail to investigate our other symptoms until it is too late.
• Focus on life-threatening injuries: Emergency room physicians often prioritize conditions that pose an immediate threat to life. Once they rule out something that’s potentially fatal, some doctors may fail to give your condition the attention it deserves.
• Symptoms overlap with less serious conditions: The reality of both concussions and back injuries is that the symptoms can overlap with less-serious conditions. Doctors who assume you’re suffering from something less severe are doing you a disservice.  
• Adrenaline masks pain and symptoms: Following a serious accident, adrenaline can temporarily hide pain and neurological symptoms. A person may appear relatively stable during an initial examination despite having a significant injury.
• Incomplete patient reporting: Some accident victims do not report all symptoms because they assume they are unimportant or will resolve on their own. Missing information can make an accurate diagnosis more difficult.
• Failure to perform a thorough neurological examination: Imaging is only one part of the diagnostic process. When providers do not conduct a comprehensive physical and neurological assessment, important warning signs may go unnoticed.
• Communication breakdowns between providers: In complex cases, information may not be effectively shared among emergency physicians, primary care doctors, specialists, and radiologists. Important findings or concerns can fall through the cracks.
• Assumptions based on age or medical history: Your physician has an obligation to make a diagnosis based on a full evaluation of you and your symptoms. Unfortunately, some doctors use imaging results to confirm assumptions based on your age or medical history.

Let Our Team Assist With Your Claim

At Slager Madry, our attorneys understand what it means to feel like your medical team failed you. There’s no excuse for physicians armed with state-of-the-art equipment to fail to recognize symptoms of serious conditions like traumatic brain injuries in cases where most of their peers would have made a correct diagnosis. If you are ready to explore your legal options, reach out to our firm today for a free consultation.