Case Study
During a baseball game at an athletic training clinical site, a baseball player got hit with a baseball …show more content…
All of this increased pressure inside of the compartment limits the blood supply which in turn results in reduced and absent perfusion to the tissues. When this happens, this can cause the patient to have loss of function of the tissues which lead to more damage. Compartment syndrome can cause the patient to lose the limb and can also cause death in some case (Nielson & Whelan, 2012). Anyone who is suspected of having compartment syndrome needs to be sent to the hospital due to compartment syndrome being a surgical emergency because if it is not taken care of right away the soft tissues will start to die and permanent disabilities can occur. There are four compartments in the lower leg; anterior and lateral compartment and a posterior compartment which has a superficial and deep sub-compartment. The symptoms are called the five P’s: Pain, pallor, paresthesia, pulselessness, and paralysis. Swelling is also commonly found in patients with compartment syndrome. The pain can be severe and is not relieved by pain killers or even morphine which is very strong pain medication. The pain can also be disproportionate to the injury and in late stages of acute compartment syndrome the pain can be absent (Via, Oliva, et al). Management for compartment syndrome includes a surgical procedure called a fasciotomy in which the surgeon would surgically open the compartment that was affected and this …show more content…
One of those serious diagnoses that needs to be promptly diagnosed and treated is compartment syndrome (Raza & Mahapatra, 2015). Compartment syndrome is a medical emergency in which one of the four compartments in the leg has increased pressure and causes necrotic damage to the tissues. Once a diagnosis has been made, a fasciotomy should be performed as soon as possible to reduce the pressure in the affected compartment. It is essential that medical professionals recognize the signs and symptoms of compartment syndrome in order to make a quick and accurate diagnosis to prohibit the loss of a limb or even death (Via, Oliva, et