Rarely Seen Compartment Syndrome of the Shoulder and Back: Diagnosis and Management

We present a patient who fell off his bicycle and sustained cervical spine fractures causing near complete quadriplegia. He was found by the road over 12 hours later, so his creatine phosphokinase (CPK) was trended and serial examinations were performed. We identified tight deltoid, trapezius, and latissimus compartments and brought him to the operating room for fasciotomies. Although lab values and compartment pressures can be helpful, they should not guide treatment. It is important to consider atypical sites for CS and complete a head to toe physical examination. Patients should proceed to the operating room if clinical suspicion exists for CS because of the morbidity associated with a missed diagnosis.PMID:38567401 | DOI:10.1177/00031348241241741

Source: The American Surgeon - April 3, 2024 Category: Surgery Authors: Jamesa Fabien Ciara Burgess Douglas Taylor Raven Hill Andreya Antoine Samantha Woolery Archibald Agyekum-Yamoah Courtney Meyer Stacy Dougherty Jonathan Nguyen Randi Smith Jason Sciarretta S Rob Todd Christine Castater Source Type: research