Some Clinical Characteristics Related to Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndrome in Military Sports Athletes

Abstract

Objectives: To describe some clinical characteristics of the leg in training related to chronic exertional compartment syndrome in military sports athletes. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive study on 412 military sports athletes. The characteristics of age, gender, BMI, sport, and clinical symptoms when exercising were collected. Data were processed using SPSS software IBM version 22.0. Results: The number of female athletes accounted for one-third of that of males (24.5% and 75.5%). The age groups < 20 and 20 - 29 years old accounted for the majority (24.3% and 64.1%), with an average age of 23.9 ± 5.8; there was no difference in mean age between males and females. The average BMI was 23.1 ± 1.0; the majority of athletes (96%) had normal BMI. Sports activities are mainly wrestling (18%) and athletics (17%). When exercising, athletes have a high percentage of leg pain (15%) and leg stiffness (14.6%). Over 90% of athletes experienced pain during exercise; the main pain location is leg pain (90.3%), leg numbness (81.3%), leg paresthesia (73.3%), and leg cramps (85.7%). Leg pain was relieved at 5-minute rest (41.9%), while leg numbness, leg paresthesia, and leg cramps were relieved at 10-minute rest, with a ratio of 62.5%, 50%, and 51.4%, respectively. Conclusion: The characteristics of age, gender, BMI, sport, and clinical symptoms during exercise are important information in diagnosing and predicting chronic exertional compartment syndrome.