Chronic compartment syndrome in the erector spinae muscle.

Intramuscular pressure in the erector spinae muscle was measured during exercise with the microcapillary infusion method in 12 highly selected patients with recurrent low-back pain. The criteria for selection were low-back pain induced only by exercise, relief of symptoms at rest, and no neurologic deficits in the lower extremities. During a 4-year period, 12 patients fulfilled these criteria. One patient had a unilateral chronic compartment syndrome. Fasciotomy of the erector spinae muscle normalized the intramuscular pressure during exercise and at rest after exercise, and relieved the pain. All the other patients with chronic low-back pain had normal intramuscular pressure findings. Chronic compartment syndrome in the erector spinae muscle seems to be an extremely uncommon cause of exercise-induced low-back pain.