Chronic compartment syndrome, an important cause of work-related upper limb disorder

Work-related upper limb disorders (WRULD) are common and disabling complaints in industry, but a tissue diagnosis can be difficult where the pain is diffuse and variable, and this prevents effective treatment. Diffuse arm pain is frequently found in those doing rapid or strenuous repetitive work, such as factory assembly workers or keyboard operators. Similar symptoms occur in the legs in athletes, where chronic compartment syndrome (CCS) is a recognized entity, so we investigated the possibility that this might also be caused by prolonged repetitive work.

Patients were selected if they were unable to continue with work because of chronic forearm pain. They were divided into three groups: 42 patients with symptoms consistent with CCS as defined in the text, 15 volunteers and patients with other arm complaints, and 10 asymptomatic arms of patients with unilateral CCS. We measured the pressure inside the extensor muscle compartment of the forearm at rest and after a 2 min repetitive gripping exercise using an electronic pressure-sensitive probe.

The results show that CCS is a common and disabling forearm complaint associated with prolonged repetitive work. Fifteen patients have now had decompressive surgery on the extensor muscle compartment with good relief of symptoms.

CCS is responsible for chronic peripheral neurological dysfunction in addition to muscle pain, and awareness of this diagnosis allows early identification and treatment of a currently unrecognized disorder with potential resolution of a long-lasting arm disability.