[Intramedullary nailing of the tibia and compartment syndrome]

The subject of this paper is the question to what extent "closed" intramedullary nailing of the tibia is injurious to the soft tissues in the sense of producing compartment syndrome. The reports on 205 patients treated by closed intramedullary nailing were evaluated. For 197 of them X-ray investigation and clinical examination were possible 1-4 years after operation. Only in 5 patients did we find a temporary compartment syndrome, and none of them needed a decompression operation. Late consequences, such as atrophy or deformity of the foot or the toes, were not observed.