Forearm compartment syndrome secondary to leukemic infiltrates

A 20-year-old white man with leukemia was recently treated with chemotherapy and was admitted to the Massachusetts General Hospital with a fever and a swollen and painful left forearm that worsened despite intravenous antibiotics. The flexor forearm compartment pressures were elevated; therefore, surgical decompression of the flexor compartments was done. All the wound cultures were negative, and biopsy specimens of tissue showed leukemic infiltrates in the muscle and subcutaneous tissue. Tumor infiltrates may result in increased compartmental pressures, and the treatment of these lesions includes chemotherapy and/or radiation therapy to provide local control of the tumor.