Compartment Syndrome Case Study

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COMPARTMENT SYNDROME 1 Compartment Syndrome Shannin Daniels ENGL 135 Professor Erikson August 18, 2010 COMPARTMENT 2 Compartment syndrome is a devastating side effect of orthopedic injuries, crush injuries and trauma. The injury at the cellular level is amazing. What the muscle goes through following one of these injuries is complex. Having a diagnosis quickly can mean the difference between surgery to relieve pressure to amputation. The trauma of surgery followed by probable skin grafting can be devastating also. After going through the various stages of healing, prognosis can be varied. Full use of the limb to limited use are some of the obstacles that the patient will have to overcome. Once a patient is discharged…show more content…
There is generally no major fracture with a chronic compartment syndrome and this can occur with overuseage such as sports injuries or exercise. In this case the treatment would be rest, compression, ice, and immobilization of the limb. After that, serial monitoring of the compartment pressure is needed to prevent further injury. Returning to the activities that caused the compartment syndrome is really a blind assessment. There are no guidelines at this point. Continuing the activity that caused the compartment could cause continued bleeding into the site (Joglekar & Rehman,…show more content…
Careful monitoring following overexertion during exercise, or after a crush injury/orthopedic injury is the most important thing that a caregiver or patient can do. One of the complications of compartment syndrome is kidney failure due to the cellular injury that can occur. This injury can release toxic amounts of myoglobin, this will cause the kidneys to be unable to excrete potassium. This excess of potassium can lead to cardiac failure (Altizer, 2004). This is why diagnosis and treatment is so important. Keeping medical staff up to date on the monitoring of patients for this condition is what is going to save the patient from possible long term complications such as amputation or even death. Making sure that the patient has this information after an injury is also important to ensure that they are monitoring their selves for complications and calling for assistance if needed. Making sure that patients understand the terminology of compartment syndrome or where to access information online is also an important step to help with this

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