Compartment syndrome associated with Staphylococcus endotoxin

A case is presented of a 23-year-old athletic male student who developed right knee pain after a weekend of strenuous activity. The patient failed to respond to conservative measures; pain increased and within 24 hours he developed fever, chills and swelling of the involved knee. On admission to the hospital, the patient appeared toxic. Efforts to establish a diagnosis, particularly with the use of computerized axial tomography are described. It was surgical decompression of muscular swelling of the distal thighs, revealed by CT scanning, that led to the diagnosis and the successful treatment that followed.