Acute compartment syndrome is a surgical emergency that most commonly occurs after trauma or reperfusion after prolonged arterial occlusion. It is caused by a build-up of blood and oedema fluid within a closed muscle compartment, and can be limb and life-threatening. It is therefore imperative that a prompt diagnosis is made. The risk of developing this condition is <1% in patients with distal radius fractures and 4-5% in those with tibial diaphyseal fractures. Pain management is an important aspect of treatment following any fracture. Regional anaesthesia can be used during surgical fixation of the fracture and has the potential to reduce the need for specialist postoperative care and analgesia, as well as to shorten the length of hospitalisation. With this case report, we hope to highlight the potential risk of masking symptoms of compartment syndrome while using regional blocks, as this can cause a delay in diagnosis and treatment, leading to associated complications.
Triceps ruptures are less common injuries presenting to the orthopaedic or emergency department setting compared with other musculoskeletal injuries. This to some extent reduces the level of index of suspicion or chances of considering the triceps rupture as one of the differential diagnosis while examining a patient following upper limb injury. The literature search shows that a significant proportion of patient diagnosis has been missed during initial presentation, leading to a delay in diagnosis and in providing definitive treatment, ranging from 6 to 18 months. The triceps are the primary extensor of the elbow and are supplied with the radial nerve. Any injury to the triceps can adversely affect the functioning of the limb and influence the ability to work and return to employment. We share our experience of treating a patient with a triceps rupture, in whom the diagnosis was made 6 months after injury; the patient was able to return to manual work 3 months after surgical repair.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.