The role of tissue pressure measurement in diagnosing chronic anterior compartment syndrome.

Pressure studies were performed in 55 patients (24 with chronic anterior leg pain and 31 asymptomatic recreational athletes). Pressure measurements were recorded at rest, during, and after exercise, using the slit catheter system. Seventeen of the twenty-four patients with symptomatic anterior leg pain were diagnosed on the basis of tissue pressure studies as having chronic exertional compartment syndrome. The increased tissue pressures at rest and after exercise are most helpful in distinguishing those patients likely to benefit from a surgical fasciotomy.