title: Fasciotomy after trauma to the extremities.
abstract: Over a 9-year period, fasciotomy for presumed compartmental syndromes after trauma was performed in 25 upper extremities and 100 lower extremities in 122 patients. This procedure was most commonly indicated after vascular injuries in the lower extremities. Twenty percent of patients underwent fasciotomy before vascular repair. Nineteen percent of patients with vascular injuries in the lower extremities had fasciotomies performed at reoperation. Seventy-five percent of amputations in the lower extremities were related to a delay in performing fasciotomy or an incomplete fasciotomy. Upper-extremity fasciotomies most commonly did not decompress the deep component of the volar compartment, whereas lower extremity fasciotomies without fibulectomy most commonly decompressed all four below-knee compartments. Fasciotomy sites were closed by direct suture in more than half of the patients.
authors.affiliation: Cora and Webb Mading Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas 77030.
authors.forename: D V
authors.initials: DV
authors.lastname: Feliciano
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Cruse
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Spjut-Patrinely
authors.forename: J M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Burch
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Mattox
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000671:Amputation, Surgical; D001808:Blood Vessels / Q000293:injuries; D003161:Compartment Syndromes / Q000209:etiology / Q000601:surgery*; D005121:Extremities / Q000098:blood supply / Q000293:injuries* / Q000601:surgery; D000071938:Fasciotomy; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies