Predictors of Positive Outcomes and a Scoring System to Guide Management After Fasciotomy for Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome.

Background: Chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) of the lower limb usually responds well to fasciotomy in patients with failed nonoperative treatment. Careful history taking and compartment pressure testing are both required to accurately diagnose CECS.

Purposes: To evaluate patients with CECS after fasciotomy to establish predictive criteria of positive outcomes and to develop a scoring system to aid clinicians in their management of such patients.

Study Design: Case-control study; Level of evidence, 3.

Methods: We reviewed data from 28 patients who underwent fasciotomy between 2017 and 2019. All patients had undergone preoperative dynamic intracompartmental pressure (ICP) monitoring. For each patient, subjective preoperative and postoperative pain scores were gained via a questionnaire. The point biserial and Pearson correlation coefficients were used to calculate the association between multiple diagnostic criteria and a reduction in visual analog scale (VAS) pain scores after fasciotomy.

Results: A reduction in VAS pain scores was strongly correlated with a peak ICP >40 mm Hg ( = 0.71; = .0007) and an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve for an intraexercise ICP >22,000 mm Hg·s ( = 0.76; = .0002). A moderate correlation was found between a history of CECS pain ( = 0.61; = .005), a duration of symptoms of <30 minutes after stopping exercise ( = 0.60; = .006), and a gradient in the intraexercise ICP >10 mm Hg ( = 0.60; = .006). When combined into an objective, weighted scoring system (2 points for factors with > 0.7; 1 point for = 0.5-0.7), a score of ≥4 points (of 7) had a strong correlation ( = 0.85; < .00001) with postoperative improvement in the VAS pain score. Linear regression of this score demonstrated a good fit ( = 0.61; < .0001), indicating a degree of predictive power.

Conclusion: We identified diagnostic criteria in the history and examination of patients with CECS that can be used to help predict positive outcomes after fasciotomy. We propose a scoring system to aid clinicians in their management of such patients. We recommend taking these results forward in prospective trials to test the efficacy of predictive scoring.