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High return to sport seen with lower extremity fasciotomy for chronic exertional compartment syndrome
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CHICAGO — Patient-reported outcomes improved and there was a high rate of return to sport in patients who underwent lower extremity fasciotomies for chronic exertional compartment syndrome, according to a presenter at the American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Annual Meeting.
“Overall our complication rate was low, with five minor complications out of 63 procedures,” John J. Mangan, MD, said during his presentation. “Only one patient required a second procedure. Overall, 84% of our patients reported they were satisfied with their procedure and 70% reported they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied with their results.”
In their retrospective review, Mangan and colleagues identified 59 patients who underwent a total of 63 lower extremity fasciotomies for chronic exertional compartment syndrome. On average, the follow-up was 58.8 months. The foot and ankle ability measure-sport subscale (FAAM)-Sport, FAAM-sport single assessment numeric evaluation (SANE) and VAS for pain were among the patient-reported outcomes recorded. Researchers designed and implemented a novel return-to-sport questionnaire to evaluate patient-reported outcomes.
There were 37 patients who underwent simultaneous bilateral fasciotomies and eight patients underwent staged bilateral fasciotomies. Eighteen patients underwent unilateral fasciotomy. Investigators noted four-compartment fasciotomy was performed 14 times. One- or two-compartment fasciotomies were performed 49 times.
Results showed FAAM-Sport, Sport-SANE and VAS for pain improved significantly compared with preoperative values. There were 93.2% of patients who returned to sport. Investigators found 78.1% of patients returned to the same level of sport and 21.9% returned to a lower level of competition. Higher preoperative BMI correlated with a lower chance of return to sport, according to results of a bivariate regression analysis. – by Monica Jaramillo
Reference:
Mangan JJ, et al. Surgical management of chronic exertional compartment syndrome of the lower extremity: Outcome analysis and return to sport. Presented at: American Orthopaedic Foot and Ankle Society Annual Meeting; Sept. 12-15, 2019; Chicago.
Disclosure: Mangan reports no relevant financial disclosures.