When Surgery Becomes the Only Option After a Colorado Car Accident
Nobody wants surgery. Not the patient staring at a surgical consent form, not the family waiting in a hospital lobby, and not the attorney who knows that surgery means this case just became longer, more complex, and more consequential for everyone involved.
But sometimes the body does not heal on its own. Sometimes the conservative approach that everyone hoped would work, the physical therapy and the injections and the months of patience, reaches a point where your doctor looks at you and says the words you have been dreading. The only way forward is surgery.
If you are facing that conversation after a car accident in Colorado, you need to understand what it means for your health, your finances, and your legal rights. Because the at-fault driver’s insurance company is already preparing for it too, and their preparation looks very different from yours.
How Doctors Decide Surgery Is Necessary
Surgeons do not recommend operations casually. The medical standard for surgical intervention after a traumatic injury follows a logical progression that insurance companies understand and that juries find credible when it is clearly documented.
The process typically begins with conservative treatment. Physical therapy, anti-inflammatory medications, rest, activity modification, and time. For many accident injuries, conservative care works. Fractures heal. Soft tissue recovers. Pain gradually diminishes.
When conservative treatment fails, the next step often involves more aggressive non-surgical interventions. Epidural steroid injections, nerve blocks, and specialized rehabilitation protocols. These treatments target specific pain generators and can provide significant relief for many patients.
Surgery enters the conversation when these approaches have been tried and have not produced adequate improvement. The medical term is “failed conservative treatment,” and it is one of the most important phrases in your medical record if your case eventually goes to trial. It establishes that surgery is not an elective choice or a shortcut. It is the remaining option after everything else has been exhausted.
Certain conditions can accelerate the surgical timeline. Progressive neurological deficits, meaning worsening numbness, weakness, or loss of function, may require urgent surgical intervention regardless of how long conservative treatment has been attempted. A spinal cord compression that threatens permanent paralysis cannot wait for six months of physical therapy. In these situations, the medical necessity for surgery is immediate and difficult for any insurance company to dispute.
The Surgeries Most Common After Car Accidents
The type of surgery depends on the specific injury, its location, and its severity. Understanding what each procedure involves helps you make informed decisions and helps you understand what the insurance company will be evaluating.
Spinal fusion joins two or more vertebrae together using bone grafts and hardware. It is commonly recommended for unstable fractures, severe disc injuries, and conditions where abnormal motion between vertebrae is causing pain or neurological symptoms. Fusion eliminates motion at the affected segment, which relieves pain but permanently changes spinal mechanics. Recovery typically takes three to six months before returning to normal activities, and many patients require ongoing physical therapy after that.
Discectomy removes the portion of a damaged disc that is pressing on a nerve. It is less invasive than fusion and preserves more natural spinal motion. Recovery is generally faster, often four to eight weeks, but the success rates vary and some patients eventually require additional surgery if the remaining disc material continues to degenerate.
Laminectomy removes a portion of the vertebral bone called the lamina to create more space for the spinal cord and nerves. This procedure addresses spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the spinal canal that can be caused or worsened by traumatic injury. It is sometimes performed alongside discectomy or fusion depending on the specific pathology.
Knee reconstruction, rotator cuff repair, and internal fixation of fractures are other surgical procedures common after car accidents. Each carries its own recovery timeline, its own risks, and its own implications for the value of an injury claim.
What Surgery Does to Your Claim Value
There is no polite way to say this, so here it is directly. Surgery significantly increases the value of a personal injury claim. Insurance companies know it. Defense attorneys know it. Juries know it. The reason is straightforward. Surgery is objective, verifiable evidence of serious injury that cannot be faked or exaggerated.
An insurance adjuster can argue that physical therapy was unnecessary. They can claim that chiropractic visits were excessive. They can suggest that your pain is exaggerated or that you would have recovered with more time. But when a board-certified surgeon opens your body and repairs damaged structures, the severity of the injury becomes undeniable.
Economic damages increase substantially with surgery. The surgical procedure itself can cost $50,000 to $200,000 or more depending on the type and complexity. Post-surgical rehabilitation adds thousands more. Lost wages during surgical recovery, which often spans months, compound the economic picture. If the surgery results in permanent physical limitations that affect your earning capacity, future economic losses can reach six or seven figures over a working lifetime.
Non-economic damages also increase. Colorado law allows recovery for pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and emotional distress. The experience of undergoing surgery, the fear beforehand, the pain of recovery, the uncertainty about outcomes, and the permanent changes to your body all contribute to non-economic damages that reflect the real human cost of a serious injury.
The Insurance Company’s Surgical Playbook
When surgery enters the picture, insurance companies shift strategies. The amounts at stake are too high for them to simply negotiate in good faith and settle. Here is what to expect.
They will challenge medical necessity. The insurance company will retain their own medical expert, typically a doctor who earns a significant portion of their income reviewing files for insurance companies and defense attorneys, to opine that your surgery is not medically necessary. This doctor will usually not examine you in person. They will review your records and produce a report concluding that conservative treatment should have continued, that the surgical recommendation is premature, or that the condition requiring surgery is unrelated to the accident.
They will attack causation. Even if they concede that surgery is necessary, they will argue that the condition requiring surgery was pre-existing and that the accident did not cause it. Prior imaging showing any degenerative changes, prior complaints of pain in the same area, even prior visits to a chiropractor, all become ammunition for the argument that you needed surgery regardless of the accident.
They will question your surgeon’s judgment. If your surgeon has ever been the subject of a malpractice claim, has any disciplinary history, or has a reputation for recommending surgery more frequently than peers, the insurance company will find it and use it. Choosing a well-credentialed, well-respected surgeon matters for your medical outcome and your legal outcome.
They will try to settle before surgery happens. An insurance company would rather pay a pre-surgical settlement based on the possibility that you might need surgery than a post-surgical settlement based on the certainty that you did. Pre-surgical offers are almost always significantly lower than the case is worth after the procedure is completed.
The Critical Decision: When to Settle
This is the most consequential financial decision you will make during your entire case, and it is the one where having experienced legal counsel matters most.
If your doctor has recommended surgery and you are considering it, settling your claim before the surgery locks you into a number based on estimated costs and projected outcomes. If the actual surgery costs more, if complications arise, if recovery takes longer than expected, or if the outcome is worse than hoped, you cannot go back for more money. The settlement is final.
Colorado personal injury settlements include a release that waives all future claims arising from the accident. Once you sign it, the case is over regardless of what happens next. An insurance company offering $150,000 before a recommended spinal fusion knows that the post-surgical value of that case could be $400,000 or more. The gap between those numbers is their profit margin, and they are betting that your financial pressure will force you to accept the lower number.
The counterargument is that surgery carries risk, that outcomes are uncertain, and that a guaranteed settlement has value compared to the uncertainty of a surgical result and subsequent litigation. This is a legitimate consideration. But it is a consideration that should be evaluated with full information about your specific medical prognosis, the strength of your liability case, and the realistic range of outcomes both with and without surgery.
Documenting the Surgical Journey
If you do proceed with surgery, the documentation trail from injury through conservative treatment through surgical recommendation through the procedure itself through recovery becomes the narrative of your case. Every step should be clearly recorded in your medical records.
Your surgeon’s operative report, which describes exactly what was found and what was done during the procedure, is one of the most powerful pieces of evidence in any surgical injury case. It describes the actual condition of your body as seen by the surgeon’s own eyes. When a surgeon writes that they found a large disc fragment compressing the nerve root, or that the ligament was completely torn and required reconstruction, that description carries tremendous weight with a jury.
Post-surgical records documenting your recovery, your pain levels, your functional progress, and any complications provide the ongoing narrative. Keep all follow-up appointments. Report your symptoms honestly. Do your rehabilitation exercises. Your medical record after surgery is the story a jury will read to decide what your experience has been worth.
If your doctor is recommending surgery after a Colorado car accident, do not make decisions about your legal case until you understand the full picture. Call Flanagan Law at 720-928-9178 for a free consultation. We will help you understand how surgery affects your claim, protect your rights during the process, and fight for compensation that reflects what you have actually been through.
Frequently Asked Questions
Should I get surgery before settling my injury claim?
In most cases, yes. Settling before surgery means accepting compensation based on estimates rather than actual costs and outcomes. Post-surgical settlements reflect the reality of what you endured and what your injury actually costs. However, every case is different, and this decision should be made with input from both your surgeon and your attorney based on your specific circumstances.
What if the insurance company’s doctor says I dont need surgery but my doctor says I do?
Your treating physician’s opinion carries more weight than a hired reviewer who never examined you. Colorado juries understand that insurance company doctors are paid to find reasons to deny treatment. Your surgeon, who has examined you, reviewed your imaging, and followed your condition over time, is in a far better position to determine what your body actually needs. Juries consistently give greater credibility to treating physicians over insurance company reviewers.
Can I choose my own surgeon or does the insurance company get to decide?
You choose your own surgeon. The at-fault driver’s insurance company has no authority to dictate your medical treatment. They may suggest an independent medical examination with a doctor of their choosing, and they may use that doctor’s opinion to challenge your claim, but the decision about who operates on your body is yours and yours alone.
What if I have surgery and the outcome is not as good as expected?
A less-than-ideal surgical outcome does not weaken your claim. In fact, it can strengthen it. If surgery fails to fully resolve your symptoms, if complications arise, or if you end up with permanent limitations despite surgical intervention, those outcomes become part of your damages. The at-fault driver is responsible for the full consequences of the injury they caused, including surgical complications and incomplete recoveries.
