Tibial Fracture: Anterior Compartment Pressure Alterations Following Reamed and Unreamed Intramedullary Nailing

Abstract

Objectives: To determine the anterior leg compartment pressure changes following closed reamed and non-reamed intramedullary nailing for fracture tibia. Subjects and Methods: Patients aged 17 to 65 with a closed tibia fracture were chosen for the study. They were randomly assigned to two treatment groups using a random number table. Group 1 received reamed intramedullary nailing, while Group 2 underwent non-reamed intramedullary nailing. Compartment pressure was measured in both groups before and after surgery, and the changes in pressure (delta P values) were calculated. Results: Most patients in both groups were male. The average age was 35.97 years (SD ±15.51) in Group 1 and 35.30 years (SD ±12.29) in Group 2. After surgery, compartment pressure was 19.60 mmHg (SD ±4.36) in Group 1 and 16.37 mmHg (SD ±3.79) in Group 2. These differences were not clinically significant. Conclusions: Reaming does not significantly contribute to the development of compartment syndrome.

Keywords: Compartment Pressure leg, Compartment Syndrome leg, Intramedullary Nailing