Atraumatic acute compartment syndrome - case report

The publishing of our case report on an idiopathic compartment syndrome of both upper limbs after icing a contusion trauma was motivated by another article on the acute spontaneous compartment syndrome of upper limb published in Rozhledy v chirurgii 8/2021.

We present the case of a 43-year-old man admitted in the evening for painful massive swelling of both upper extremities. The swelling developed immediately after icing his bruises suffered due to a probable fall on the previous day in a state of inebriety. Compartment syndrome of the left hand and right forearm was diagnosed; subsequently, adequate dermatofasciectomy resulted in normalization of the condition in both upper limbs. The patients condition was cured to a full extent without any disorders of perfusion, mobility or sensation in both upper extremities.

Only few reports on the atraumatic compartment syndrome of upper extremity can be found in the literature and it is an acute condition encountered quite rarely at outpatient offices of surgery. Nevertheless, we need to be able to recognize this nosological unit and provide proper treatment in time, otherwise the patient may suffer serious permanent damage.