Knee Surg Relat Res.  2014 Sep;26(3):177-181. 10.5792/ksrr.2014.26.3.177.

Compartment Syndrome Following Total Knee Arthroplasty: Clinical Results of Late Fasciotomy

• Park CH
• Lee SH
• Kang DG
• Cho KY
• Lee SH
• Kim KI

• KMID: 2223277
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.5792/ksrr.2014.26.3.177

Abstract

Compartment syndrome after total knee arthroplasty (TKA) is a rare complication. Because of its rarity, it may be overlooked and misdiagnosed as peroneal nerve palsy or deep vein thrombosis. This misdiagnosis could have a profound impact on the patient's outcome. We report a case of a 77-year-old female who developed unilateral compartment syndrome in the calf after staged bilateral TKA at an outside clinic. The patient presented with medical complications related to compartment syndrome: rhabdomyolysis and myoglobinuria, which caused acute renal failure. Thus, we performed late fasciotomy one week after symptom onset to debride necrotic tissue and salvage the compartment. In the discussion section, we will discuss risk factors for compartment syndrome after TKA, results of late fasciotomy and other indications for surgical treatment of compartment syndrome.

Keyword

Knee; Arthroplasty; Compartment syndromes; Complications

MeSH Terms

Acute Kidney Injury
Aged
Arthroplasty*
Compartment Syndromes*
Diagnostic Errors
Female
Humans
Knee*
Myoglobinuria
Paralysis
Peroneal Nerve
Rhabdomyolysis
Risk Factors
Venous Thrombosis