Acta Orthop Belg
-
Case Reports
Presentation of compartment syndrome without an obvious cause can delay treatment. A case report.
Compartment syndrome is a serious condition which leads to chronic morbidity unless an urgent decompression of the affected area is performed. An increased intra compartmental pressure commonly occurs after a physical insult though rarer causes have been identified. We report an atypical presentation of compartment syndrome and subsequent delayed intervention where there was no identifiable aetiological factor. Frontline medical staff must rule out compartment syndrome early so that complications secondary to compartment syndrome can be avoided.
-
A sixty-year-old woman was admitted with an acute subclavian artery pseudoaneurysm after a closed fracture of the middle third of the right clavicle. This manifested itself a few days after the injury as a slowly growing, pulsatile and purple tumour-like mass in the right supraclavicular fossa. The distal pulses were normal, but this observation does not exclude a vascular trauma. This is an uncommon but potentially dangerous complication as it jeopardizes both the extremity and the life of the patient.