medical term for one injury causing another?

October 1, 2010 10:26 AM

Is there a medical (or medicolegal) term for one injury causing another? Example: a person who breaks one leg, leans heavily on the other leg, eventually causing shin splints in the healthy leg.
posted by mirileh to Health & Fitness (12 answers total)

I believe the most common word(s) used in this situation are "compensate" or "compensation" plus damage or injury. But if you google this almost all hits or on the legal notion of "compensatory damage". But if one limb is injured you "compensate" for that injury with the other leg which causes "compensatory damage". There maybe more technical terms but I can not help.
posted by rmhsinc at 10:39 AM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

The term that comes to mind is sequela.
posted by bearwife at 10:43 AM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

You might say that something developed "secondary to..."
posted by purlgurly at 10:44 AM on October 1, 2010

Response by poster: now I finally understand what sequela means (I had been meaning to look it up). thanks, bearwife!

rmhsinc, I need the medical terms, more than the legal terms.
posted by mirileh at 10:48 AM on October 1, 2010

When I read assessment reports they will more likely phrase this as "secondary to". Just confirming that purlgurly's response is not just a verbal one but one that is written. As in: "sensory processing disorder secondary to autism spectrum disorder".
posted by kch at 10:54 AM on October 1, 2010

overcompensate
posted by 2bucksplus at 10:57 AM on October 1, 2010

The terms "sequelae" and "secondary to" are correct, but it's also often called a derivative injury. With your particular example, you may also see the term "altered gait" used to explain symptoms resulting from a change in the way a person walks.
posted by amro at 10:59 AM on October 1, 2010 [1 favorite]

Slightly related but different: Nosocomial infections are infections that results from being treated in a hospital.
posted by GuyZero at 10:59 AM on October 1, 2010

I do not think it is sequela as that refers to the spill down(secondary) effects of the primary injury/disease. For instance the sequela of a broken leg is muscle atrophy in that leg, however, if the leg heals improperly and a limp results you are likely to develop compensatory damage in the hip. But I do not know--it is an interesting question. If you had a spinal fracture the normal sequelae are muscle atrophy, enervation, loss of sensation etc. If you then used a wheelchair you might develop a compensatory injury/damage to the shoulder muscle/joint. Let us know what you decide
posted by rmhsinc at 11:02 AM on October 1, 2010

Comorbidity ?
posted by banshee at 11:05 AM on October 1, 2010

It's actually a complication. Sequela refers to something that results directly from the disease process. A complication results indirectly from it.
posted by 517 at 11:56 AM on October 1, 2010

Co-morbidity tends to be for something that is found in conjunction with another disease. An example would be "There is a higher co-morbidity of depression among people with ADHD." So it might fit with what you are looking for, but I think that complication is probably more accurate.
posted by slavlin at 7:31 PM on October 1, 2010