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Normal compartment pressures of the lower leg in children

¹ Department of Plastic, Reconstructive and Hand Surgery, Academic Medical Center, Amsterdam, P. O. Box 22700, 1100 DE, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Correspondence should be sent to Dr J. M. Staudt; e-mail: j.m.staudt{at}amc.uva.nl

Compartment pressures have not previously been studied in healthy children. We compared the pressures in the four lower leg compartments of healthy children with those of healthy adults.

We included patients aged between two months and six years, and measured the pressures in 80 compartments of 20 healthy children using simple needle manometry. Measurements were repeated in a control group of 20 healthy adults.

The mean compartment pressure in the lower leg in children was significantly higher than in adults (p < 0.001). On average, pressures in the four compartments varied between 13.3 mmHg and 16.6 mmHg in the children and between 5.2 mmHg and 9.7 mmHg in the adults. The latter is in accordance with those recorded in the literature. The mean arterial pressure did not relate to age or to pressure in the compartment.

The findings of this study that the normal compartment pressure of the lower leg in healthy children is significantly higher than that in adults may be of considerable significance in clinical decision-making in children of this age.

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