misdiagnosed lisfranc injury

[capticorn1]

Can anyone give me any advice wrt making a claim for a misdiagnosed lisfranc injury.

Will happily give more details via pm

I suppose it would depend on 'who ' made the initial diagnosis and the severity of the presenting injury as lisfranc injuries can be difficult to make and are often missed or treated as something else. Even orthopaedic consultants could miss it if the foot was not their 'specialty' as per balance of probabilities would it be something a walk in centre nurse practitioner know about, would it be readily recognisable to a generalist a and e medic. Was it referred appropriately to an appropriate specialist? Only speaking as an Orthopaedic Nurse Practitioner currently treating her own relocated knee cap courtesy of the Gas works in progress because I cannot face being treated in my own hospital trust. Hope you get your injury sorted out and sorry can't help on the legal front.

Minor injury unit xrayed the ankle and diagnosed a sprain even though they were specifically told of pain in the mid foot area and unable to bear weight, no pain in ankle whatsoever, visited GP 48hrs later, prescribed painkillers and severe bruising and swelling was noted from midfoot to toes and on the sole of foot, no bruising or swelling to ankle.

Eventually referred to orthopedic trauma dept more than 5 wks later, foot & ankle consultant was seen, correct diagnosis given ct scan ordered, results 2 wks later confirmed comminuted fractures of 2 bones + ligament damage.

Just had 2nd tmt joint fusion. Lots more to the story but those are the basics.

Was walking around on fractures for more than 5 wks.

clake66 I'm am ENP and know what a lisfranc # is, I agree that they can be tricky to diagnose and can be missed.
The pertinent thing here seems to have been the examination, it sounds like you were explicit with where the pain was capticorn1 and the incorrect imaging was ordered.
I know nothing of making claims and the like but would imagine that would be the area you need to concentrate on, that your explicit instructions were not considered.
From what you have said it sounds like you were diagnosed with an ankle injury rather than a foot injury?
For what it's worth I was always request and ortho review if I wasn't sure with any injury, but certainly if I had any suspicion at all of a lisfranc.

Good luck.

Argh excuse my grammar am posting on phone

But what financial loss have you suffered? That's what you claim for, plus a very small amount for hurt.

So far been unable to return to work, loss of earnings (1 year and counting, initial treatment after correct diagnoses failed) pain and inconvenience out of pocket expenses.

A misdiagnosis or mistake isn't enough to claim for negligence; the medical professional has to really deviate from what their peers would have done, what is reasonable in other words and the resulting injury/problem has to be as to be attributable to what they did when compared to what the outcome would been like had they acted correctly. This is called the "Bolam test" (You can read about it here.

You really need to speak to a lawyer who deals with medical negligence. They'll get your medical records which will need to be reviewed by an expert to determine whether you have a case or not.

I've recently been through the same thing, I was diagnosed with a avulsion fracture and a few bumps a bruises, was treated accordingly, 6-8 weeks later I was out of the boot and off the crutches, brilliant!! Well so I thought, my foot was constantly swelling and aching, my partner breing a nurse in the same hospital basically told me to man up, 😂 but this pain got worse, so she asked one of the consultants to have a quick look at the original scans, and she sotted I straight away a small fracture of my navicular so got me a appointment straight away, had more scans and because I had been walking on it, I had now smashed the navicular into several pieces and this had cause corrosion of my talis joint, so the took a bone graft out of my hip to replace the navicular, of anyone has had this you'll know how much it hurts ouch!!! They have fused the talonavicular joint. The original injury happened then start of April and now it's November I'm back in a aircast now and hopefully on the mend. I have put a claim for medical negligence, mainly for loss of earnings due to this being missed, I will never be able to go back to my job as a steel erector, I have no other trade, so I feel I'm entitled to it. If anyone is planning on claiming/suing keep every letter or document from your drs/hospital and when you've started the process everything from your solicitor, I'll keep you posted on my claim,

I disagree, law of tort means that a healthcare professional who could be reasonably expected to diagnose you (if she was u sure she should have referred to a colleague or asked you to attend again ) missed your fracture.
You have suffered financial loss and physical pain as a result, so yes, you do have a claim.

Does anyone know if the is a way of getting cash/sub from solicitors before a settlement??

Hi OP, the basic advice is that you need to see a specialist medical negligence solicitor and let them look into it.

As other posters have said, claims for misdiagnosed fractures can be difficult and you would need to look at whether the correct history was taken, examination performed and x-ray views ordered. Then there’s the issue of the interpretation of the images and whether you should have been advised to return if your symptoms persisted (some fractures are notoriously difficult to spot on an x-ray immediately post-injury). Plus there’s the question of whether your outcome would have been better with earlier diagnosis and treatment.

Happy to recommend some firms if you say roughly where you are in the UK.

Aawitter - your solicitors are unlikely to give you any cash I’m afraid, but the NHS might make an interim payment if they admit liability - depends where your case is up to.

Have to say I’m still struggling with the pain in my foot since a fall in August 2016.The foot was X-rayed within 12hours of the fall and the A&E nurse suspected a lisfranc. Unfortunately she asked the radiographer to confirm this and they stated it was just a nasty sprain.
After a year of doc visits, pain and paying for oesteopath help I was finally re-xrayed in September 2017 and he lisfranc was confirmed. Now seeing a surgeon who showed me the X-ray from August 2016 which clearly shows the metatarsal injury and she has explained that the tendon under my instep is ruptured too.
I had an MRI 3 weeks ago and go for the results in 2days.
A bit worried as I dearly wish to dance again and had to stop with the injury and the last time I saw the surgeon she said best option is to fuse the injury and reattach the tendon but most likely make my foot quite stiff ( upsetting for me with dreams of dancing again) or I could have steroid injections to relive the pain,but no alter the condition.
I can’t find any information in line as to how successful the surgery is at this late stage.
I have to say that the NHS in the state it’s in I couldn’t live with myself if I was to persue them for damages.My biggest concern Is to banish this pain and get my foot better.

Cj have you suffered any financial loss? Like lost wages? If not, it's nothing to do with morals etc, but replacing loss which wouldn't have otherwise happened.