Compartment syndromes in phlebology

The acute compartment syndrome is triggered by the incongruent relationship between the volume of the comportment and its contents. This causes high p ressures at rest and during exercise which interrupt the microcirculation, thus leading to destruction of the intracompartmental structures. Chronic c ompartment syndrome has hitherto only been recognised in sports and militar y medicine. The overriding majority of cases affect the anterior comportmen t and the extensor muscles, seldom the lateral muscle comportment. Spectros copic investigations hove shown increased deoxygenation of the muscle tissu e, although muscle necrosis may also occur. In the course of severe chronic venous disorders a chronic compartment synd rome also develops. However, this is fundamentally different. It is always localised in the dorsal compartment. The scarred destruction of the crural fascia affects the muscle tissue with every step. This results in severe ch anges in the sense of chronic ischaemia with necrosis and a muscular glycog en deficit. Further investigations are required to define the clinical pict ure, above ali intercompartmental pressure measurements under dynamic and s tandardised conditions. The author suggests that a verbal distinction shoul d be drown between the two forms of chronic exertional comportment syndrome and chronic phlebological compartment syndrome.