A Soldier with Chronic Lower Leg Pain Due to Muscle Herniation

Abstract

A 28-year-old soldier presented with chronic right-lower-leg pain that had persisted for the past 18 months. Following previous primary care and specialty referrals, he had been diagnosed with atraumatic compartment syndrome. Prior lower-extremity magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) had been evaluated as normal. Subsequent physical examination revealed an appreciable soft-tissue depression, which became elevated after brief exercise. Ultrasonography confirmed this to be a previously undiagnosed fascial defect of the anterolateral compartment with tibialis anterior muscle herniation.