Thousands of people around the world are affected by compartment syndrome, a condition that can lead to nerve damage and irreversible muscle damage. This condition arises when excessive pressure builds up within a group of muscles in the body, which cuts off blood flow and affects healthy tissues inside.
Compartment syndrome is more common in athletes, trauma patients, and people who are going through intensive physical activities. Let’s look at the diagnosis steps and treatment of compartment syndrome.
Diagnosis Steps
The first step in figuring out if a person has compartment syndrome is by looking at the syndromes. The doctor would ask about pain, numbness, or trouble moving the injured area. They’ll also ask you if you have had an accident before, an injury, or if you did some sort of intensive exercise.
Furthermore, the doctor would move forward to check for swelling, pale skin, or if the area feels tight. The next big clue is extreme pain, especially if it hurts when you stretch the muscles. The next step, doctors will use a small needle or tube to measure the pressure inside your muscle. This procedure tells them if the pressure is too high or low.
If the pressure is below 10 mmHg, or if it’s over 30 mmHg, there is a need for a fast treatment. In addition, tests like x-rays or MRIs, aren’t used often, but can help the doctor to rule out other problems like broken bones or blood clots as a cause of severe pain and other symptoms that you face.
Treatment for Compartment Syndrome
Compartment syndrome treatment depends on how severe it is. It could be either sudden and severe or chronic. For these types of compartment syndrome there are different treatment options for it.
Fasciotomy
When the condition is acute (sudden and severe), it calls for emergency surgery. During this surgery, the doctor makes a deep cut through the skin and the fascia, the tough layer covering the muscles. This cut relieves the pressure inside the compartment, allowing blood to flow freely again.
Furthermore, the cut will stay open for a couple of days to allow the swelling to go down. During this time, the doctor will watch the wound for any signs of infection. Once the swelling is under control, the doctor will close the skin up using stitches or a skin graft. Acute compartment syndrome needs emergency surgery because any time wasted will cause the nerves to be damaged completely, and in severe cases, the amputation might be necessary.
Chronic Compartment Syndrome
For chronic cases, the symptoms seem to develop slowly over time, often because of repetitive physical activity like running or heavy lifting. Because this type of compartment syndrome takes time to manifest, the treatment approach is less urgent and non-surgical. Surgical treatments are only performed when non-surgical methods don’t work.
For non-surgical options, the doctor will recommend you take a break from the activity that’s causing you to be in pain, whether it’s weightlifting or running. Secondly, they’d recommend special exercises to help strengthen muscles and improve flexibility, which can ease the pressure in different muscle compartments.
Bottom Line
Compartment syndrome occurs when a collection of muscles experiences a lot of pressure which stops blood flow. The internal nerves and muscles may be harmed by this. In order to determine whether a patient has it, doctors may test for muscle pressure and check for symptoms such as severe pain, swelling, and tightness. If it’s severe, a fasciotomy, an emergency procedure,is performed to relieve the pressure and restore blood flow. In less severe situations, physical treatment, rest, and occasionally surgery can be helpful.
