Mar 29, 2023 12:29:00

I was transported by ambulance due to a dislocation fracture in a motorcycle accident, so I tried to summarize the treatment process and costs in detail

When I went to a driving school to get a motorcycle license and took lessons, I had an accident in which the motorcycle was blown away during the sudden braking (sudden braking) lesson and was taken to the emergency room. As a result of the diagnosis, it turned out that the left thumb was dislocated and fractured. During the treatment period, I was full of anxiety such as 'How much will the total treatment cost be?' and 'When will I recover?' I tried to summarize the treatment cost, treatment period, etc. in detail.

·table of contents
◆ 1:

Situation at the time of the accident
◆ 2: Flow after ambulance transportation
◆ 3: Re-examination & Surgery
◆ 4: Postoperative situation
◆ 5: Wire removal & treatment cost summary up to 6 weeks after the accident
◆ 6: What to prepare in case of an accident
◆ 7: And to the university hospital ......

◆ 1: Situation at the time of the accident
The author caused an accident while attending a driving school aiming to acquire a normal motorcycle license. The date of the accident was January 28, 2023, a very cold and rainy afternoon. Up to that point, he had completed the lessons without any problems, and had reached the stage where he said, 'If I take two lessons today, I will take the graduation exam tomorrow.' Even on the day of the accident, we were able to handle issues such as slalom and sudden braking without any problems.

Sudden braking is a task to 'drive at a speed of 40 km / h, and when it exceeds the prescribed line, apply the brakes and stop before reaching the prescribed line'. I almost never failed in sudden braking, and even on the day of the accident, I was able to repeat the sudden braking three times successfully. However, with the fourth sudden braking, the bike went out of control, and the bike flew diagonally forward to the left, hitting the ground with its right side down. I don't know the exact cause of the accident because I didn't record it, but it's probably because I applied the front wheel brake too hard. Also, it may have been affected by the fact that the road surface was wet after the rain.

The first thing that touched the ground was my head, as the helmet pressed against the side of my face and the lenses of my glasses flew away. However, I didn't feel any pain in my body, probably because of the adrenaline rush. The instructor decided that he might have hit his head hard and immediately called an ambulance and the police. .

I didn't feel any pain right after the accident, but a few minutes after the ambulance arrived, I started feeling a sharp pain around my left thumb. A closer look around the thumb reveals that the bones have clearly moved to strange positions and that the fingers cannot be moved at all.

◆ 2: Flow after ambulance transportation
An ambulance arrived minutes after the accident. I walked by myself and got into the ambulance and gave my address and name. A few seconds later, the police arrived. After telling the police the address and the circumstances of the accident, he was transported to a nearby hospital. We arrived at the hospital around 6pm.

The hospital first performed X-rays and a CT scan, then told me to wait a while until an orthopedic doctor arrived. Below are pictures of the scratches taken while waiting. The temples of my glasses were broken and stuck in the side of my eye, leaving a cut.

The X-ray picture looks like this. You can see that the bone at the base of the left thumb has come off.

After waiting for about 2 hours, the orthopedic doctor arrived. The wound near the eye was disinfected and gauze was pasted.

After an anesthetic injection was given to the finger bones near the shoulder, they were pulled back to their original positions and fixed with casts. Furthermore, I was told, ``If you just fix it with a cast, the bone will come off again. Actually, you need surgery, but it's out of hours today, so please come back on Monday (2 days later) and have the surgery.'' The anesthetic injection I got at this time was the most painful of all the treatment processes.

I couldn't settle the payment for the consultation fee at the first visit because it was after hours, so I paid a deposit of 10,000 yen and received painkillers for three days before going home. I had a driving school instructor drive me to the nearest station in a company car, and then walked home from the station. I remember when I was walking home, a young man who passed by said to me, 'He's definitely after Breaking Down! He's covered in casts and gauze!'

◆ 3: Re-examination & Surgery
The scars near my eyes closed immediately. I also got bruises around my eyes that looked like I had been hit, but my eyesight was fine. I spent the day after the accident quietly, and went to the hospital again on the second day after the accident.

After arriving at the hospital, X-rays were taken, and it was found that the cast alone was not enough to keep the bones in the correct position, so I decided to undergo surgery to insert wires into the bones to fix them. According to the doctor, ``General anesthesia is suitable for this operation, but this hospital is full and it is not possible to be admitted to a new hospital. Maybe. Can you stand it?' When I asked, 'Can you type on the keyboard?', I was told that they would be able to use everything except my thumbs, so I decided to have the surgery that day.

The explanation and consent form for the surgery are below. The diagnosis is ``left thumb CM joint dislocation fracture'', and it seems that surgery will be performed ``fracture percutaneous steel wire insertion fixation''.

After agreeing to the surgery, I had to undergo a blood test and wait until the surgery time.

You may drink water before surgery, but you should not eat anything. I bought water from a vending machine in the hospital and waited.

I waited until 4:00 pm to start the surgery. The X-ray picture when inserting the wire looks like this.

The wire was cut to a length that protruded slightly from the skin, and a bandage was wrapped around the protruding wire with a sine (batten) applied over the protruding wire.

After the operation, I was in bed for several minutes.

After resting for a few minutes, I went home on foot and by train. After a few hours, the anesthesia wore off and I was able to raise my left arm. The bandage is wrapped like this.

Looking from the palm side it looks like this.

Since fingers other than the thumb move freely, I was able to hit the keyboard without problems.

◆ 4: Postoperative situation
After the surgery, the patient was rested and had X-rays taken and interviewed every week. I usually cook for myself, but it was difficult because I couldn't keep my left hand wet, so I ate freeze-dried and frozen foods.

I had a throbbing pain for a week after the surgery, but after a week, the pain was almost gone.

Three weeks after surgery, the batten was removed and I was instructed to gently move the first and second joints of my thumb. Immediately after removing the batten, I felt pain when bending my thumb, like when I had severe muscle pain.

When bending and stretching the thumb, an accident occurred that 'the wire jumps out of the bandage'. However, the wire never came off.

◆ 5: Wire removal & treatment cost summary up to 6 weeks after the accident
As a result of taking an X-ray photograph six weeks after the operation, it was confirmed that the bone had returned to its normal position, so it was decided to remove the wire.

The wire was pulled out with pliers. I was surprised when the doctor took out the pliers while saying, 'Let's pull out the wire!' The X-ray photograph taken immediately after removing the wire is below. It looks like the bone is returning to its original position.

I was told that I would bleed for two days after the wire was removed, so I was put on a huge piece of gauze.

Bandages were also wrapped, and I spent two days in the following state.

I was able to remove the bandages on the second night. It's been a long time since I've seen my left hand without a bandage, and I'm impressed. At this point, I felt pain when I flexed my finger, but I was told to come back in two weeks, so I wasn't particularly concerned.

The medical expenses from ambulance transportation immediately after the accident to wire removal are as follows. In addition, since the author is enrolled in social insurance, the burden rate is 30% of the medical expenses, and the amount below is the amount of '30%' actually paid.

date	Main contents	cost
January 28, 2023	Examination & cast fixation, etc.	20,770 yen
January 30, 2023	surgery	13,050 yen
February 6, 2023	radiography	1100 yen
February 13, 2023	radiography	890 yen
February 20, 2023	radiography	890 yen
February 27, 2023	radiography	890 yen
March 6, 2023	interview	220 yen
March 13, 2023	radiography	1100 yen
	total	38,910 yen

◆ 6: What to prepare in case of an accident
Below are the ``things to prepare for an accident'' obtained from the experience of actually causing an accident and being transported urgently.

・If you drive a motorcycle, you need a protector
This time, in addition to the protectors for the chest, shoulders, elbows, knees, and shins that were lent at the driving school, I was wearing gloves with protectors, so I got away with only 'injury around the eyes' and 'dislocation fracture of the left thumb'. , It may have developed into a catastrophe if there was no protector. In fact,

the glove worn on the right hand that escaped injury has a hollowed out palm, which shows that it protected the hand from the impact of the accident.

In addition, the protector on the back of the right hand is scraped by hitting the ground. If there was no protector, the fingers of the right hand might have been hurt.

There is also a hole in the left thumb part of the dislocated fracture. On the Internet, I sometimes see opinions such as, 'I have sports experience, so I can be passive even if an accident happens! So it's OK without a protector!' However, although I have experience in martial arts and have some confidence in my passive skills, when an accident occurred, my body hit the ground before my brain could recognize that I was falling. Whether you've ever played a sport or not, you should wear protective gear to save your life.

Keep cash in your wallet
When I was rushed to the hospital this time, the hospital was out of hours, so I could not process the payment, and I was asked to pay 10,000 yen in cash as a deposit. In recent years, with the spread of electronic money, some people do not carry cash, but in an emergency, cash may be needed, so it is better to carry a small amount of cash, such as 10,000 yen.

・Convenient to keep frozen vegetables on hand
I couldn't cook while my left hand was bandaged because it wouldn't get wet. In that case, opportunities to eat out and eat frozen foods will inevitably increase, but those meals tend to fall into the situation of 'not enough vegetables'. The frozen vegetable mix sold at the frozen section of the supermarket was very convenient because it can be eaten as a warm vegetable salad just by heating it in the microwave.

・Prepare a spare pair of spectacles for spectacle users
My glasses broke in an accident and I had to use my old glasses with the wrong prescription until I got new glasses from an optician. Spectacle wearers should keep several pairs of spectacles in their current power.

◆ 7: And to the university hospital ......
As mentioned above, the postoperative course was good until the wire was removed, but after the wire was removed, the pain near my left thumb continued. I was wondering if the pain would subside after a few weeks, but as a result of taking an X-ray picture two weeks after the wire was removed, it turned out that the bone had come off. The doctor also said, 'It is the first time that the bone has come off again 6 weeks after the operation.' In the end, even the doctor didn't know how to deal with it, so I was referred to a nearby university hospital.

As a temporary measure, the left thumb is fixed with a batten. So, even at the time of writing the article, the thumb fixed life continues.

The date of examination at the university hospital is scheduled for April 4, 2023. We plan to publish an article on the treatment process in the future.