Continuous Compartment Pressure Monitoring Allows the Early Detection of Compartment Syndrome After Arterial...

Compartment syndrome (CS) occurs in several clinical scenarios. Reperfusion injury and tissue swelling are common causes. This can occur after trauma but also is seen post revascularization of extremities. CS is a difficult diagnosis to make in a timely fashion that avoids permanent tissue damage. The treatment for CS is immediate fasciotomy, but fasciotomy is not a complication-free procedure. Previous care pathways usually resulted in fasciotomy being performed in a disproportionate number of normal legs. These false positives and prophylactic releases are costly to the health system because of protracted hospital stays and increased surgery numbers. The desirable tool for surgeons would be one that decreases false positives and negatives while ensuring a diagnosis in a timely fashion with true positives. A new technology that allows continuous pressure monitoring seems to be the best aid to make a diagnosis. We present our experience in decreasing the time to diagnosis in a CS case post revascularization despite the neurological blockade.