• J D Ogunlusi, R St George, and B St Rose.
• Victoria Hospital, Castries. St Lucia. West Indies. gbemidare@yahoo.com
• West Afr J Med. 2010 May 1; 29 (3): 190-2.

BackgroundCompartment syndromes in children are rare, rarer still is the occurrence of metachronous compartment syndrome.ObjectiveTo report an unusual and rare presentation of metachronous acute compartment syndrome.MethodsA seven-year-old boy presented with four separate episodes of acute compartment syndrome of the legs within three years. The recurrent nature of the illness prompted detail review of the records of the child.ResultsThere was involvement of each leg twice between the ages of three and seven years following trivial trauma. At first presentation of each leg, fasciotomy was carried out in one or two compartments. There was no recurrence after fasciotomy of the four compartments during the second presentation of each leg.ConclusionsThis case shows that a child could develop metachronous compartment syndrome in the legs following trivial injury and high index of suspicion is needed to recognize it. It also illustrates the importance of carrying out fasciotomy of all the four compartments to avoid recurrence of the pathology.

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