2022 Volume 31 Issue 2 Pages 85-89
We report an extremely rare case of forearm compartment syndrome that occurred after thrombectomy for acute upper limb artery occlusion. The patient was a 76-year-old man who developed pain and motor paresthesia in his right hand and was brought to our hospital by ambulance. The patient was diagnosed with acute arterial occlusion of the right upper limb, for which we initially performed thrombectomy. Blood flow recovered 6 hours after onset. However, he complained of severe pain in his right upper extremity immediately after surgery; his right upper extremity showed rapid swelling. Contrast-enhanced computed tomography revealed swelling of the volar flexor muscles of the forearm and decreased contrast efficacy of these muscles, leading to the diagnosis of compartment syndrome. We performed fasciotomy of the superficial and deep volar compartments for decompression. We subsequently performed skin grafting at a later date. The patient was discharged 37 days after the first operation. One year postoperatively, he reported no adverse sequelae. Thus, enhanced CT was useful for diagnosing forearm compartment syndrome in this case.
