Compartment Syndrome Surgery Success?

I had the surgery completed in the middle of track season. It seems to have been successful since i could barely run 6 min. pace before the surgery without pain, and i have been able to improve so far this xc season without a full summer of training. During the track season i couldnt run a fast 3200 without extreme pain and having to slow down ALOT, and now i am running 5ks faster than i have before. For me it was definately worth it.

I know somebody who had the surgery 3 yrs ago, and they get injured again every time they try to start running. I think they have given hope at this point.

I knew a guy who had the surgery and unfortunately he wound up quitting the sport not long after so it's impossible to say if his worked.

My massage therapist swears that the surgery is useless. She said it's a shame because the people who get it are left with such enormous scars.

This is a great place to start but even after this thread, if I were you I'd get multiple opinions from massage therapists, chiropractors, doctors, athletic trainers, teammates, etc. I imagine it's a controversial topic with mixed results.

Didn't Mary Decker get a similar surgery back in her prime that seemed to work at the time?

yes mary decker did. it was exertional compartment syndrome. BTW thats what mine was.

I had the surgery and it worked great it has been 3 years and I have not had a problem since.

i had the surgery 5 years ago and have been fine ever since

make sure you get a doctor who knows what they're doing...mine said that a main reason these surgeries aren't successful is because the doctor only cuts the sheath, and doesn't release the nerve

good luck

....but didn't you say in another thread that while the pain before the surgery was gone, you are still having shin trouble?

khink02 wrote:

i had the surgery 5 years ago and have been fine ever since

make sure you get a doctor who knows what they're doing...mine said that a main reason these surgeries aren't successful is because the doctor only cuts the sheath, and doesn't release the nerve

good luck

The size of the scars must depend on the surgeon. I had three of the four compartments in each leg done and only have two scars about an inch or so in length. The scars are barely noticeable.

Regarding the surgery itself, it was a complete success. Before the surgery, I had extreme pain in my shins/calves and numbness in my feet. It has been a couple years and am still running pain free.

Hope this helps!

My saga reads as follows. From onset of symptoms (dull pain following hard workout or road race) until I couldn't run was 4 years. Dinked around with different approaches until I had the surgery (Lateral Release). The Doc told me it was 50/50 and this was 1995. To make sure it took I waited 6 months and no luck. Some bad mojo around this injury.

Here is your answer, I have had fasciotomies on both calves in all four compartments and the surgery did not work for me. Now am not saying it will not work for you. It all comes down to how bad you have compartment syndrome. My experience was terrible, I put it off and put it off for years. As a matter of fact mine got so bad that after running a mile or two I could not walk for two weeks after the that, and my legs would tremble like a baby just learning to stand for the first time. So I did the physical therapy and so forth. Now once at that point I had the pressure testing done and that is not a cute experience to say the least. After having been formally diagnosed with compartment syndrome in both legs and all compartments I was sent in for surgery the very next day. Now once the surgeries were done I attempted rehabilitation for months to no avail the symptoms were odd for me. I did Not have the feeling of Oh God my legs are going to pop. However I did have severe tingling and sensitivity and as time progressed I now have numbness. touching both of my calves feels like I am touching a piece of wood. So there is a chance of the Doctor slicing through a beloved nerve or several in the process. sensitivity to cold is now an ever present issue. It is now a few years after I had both legs done and I have been granted a cane... That is correct a cane at the age of 30 years old.

My advice is to seek all other methods first and resort to surgery only if you must. After all it could change your life; it changed mine by ending my Military career early.

Had it done on one leg in my early 30's. I am almost 59 now. Took a while to come back with therapy and a slow return to running. Who cares about a scar? The important matter is if it works for you.

And, really, it's all about how much you want to return to running. Then, your fate is in the doc doing the work. Even then, as others have said, it may still not be the answer for you.

Good luck!

Only expereince I have had was a friend who was a great runner in high school and lasted one season in college before needing the surgery. After surgery he tried multiple come backs and never did... surgery didn't seem to get it right

You do know the story of Drew Hoffman don't you?

friend of mine had exertional CS in high school. a multiple time state champ. had the surgery in winter of junior year, missed indoors, won another state title that spring and a couple more senior year, successful college career as well.

I had the surgery about 4 years ago, and it was certainly a success. The key is finding a surgeon who knows what they are doing, and have performed the surgery succesfully before. Lately, the surgeries I seen for people with Compartment Syndrome leave a scar about an inch long somewhere near the ankle. My scars are about 4 inches long running vertically along the outside of each calf. My surgeon informed me before the surgery that I could opt for the surgery that leaves a smaller scar, but it is riskier and usually less successfully, because the surgeon is essentially doing the surgery blind. My creating a long incision like mine, the doctors are able to see and fix the problem areas. My doctor even informed me after the surgery that had he not done it the way he did, it likely wouldn't have been a success, because my anatomy was not textbook and he likely would have missed the problem area.

Also, I did lots of physical therapy and massage after the surgery (Beginning about a week later). I was able to bike 3 days later, and was running normally after 3 weeks. I have no pain even 4 years later.

I had it in 2003 and it worked for me. Now, what does it mean that it worked for me? Before the surgery, I couldn't run for more than 10 minutes without my legs seizing and hurting for a week. I'm a bit injury prone now, but I always was. I have to do strengthening everyday on my calves, shins and ankles--I've heard anecdotally that CS surgery can leave you with some weakness there, but again I had problems with my shins and calves before. Rehabbing well after surgery is very important. I wasn't worried about the surgey not working, in part because I had nothing to lose running-wise, and partially because I was young and wasn't big on thinking ahead at the time.

Around the time I had it, a couple other guys on my team had it. One guy was plagued by injury problems, the other two were fine. Hard to know if injury problems are caused by the surgery, caused by the same biomechanical issues that caused the CS in the first place, or are unconnected to everything.

Providing you get it done by a surgeon who knows what they are doing 100% go for it.

I had it done in August 09 and have very little to zero calf and shin problems after being plagued for over 3 years.

I had Comparrment Syndrome with Fixamoty in July of 2017. I had a 17 inch skin graph as my Tibia split 8 inches and did not break the skin. It took 2 1/2 years for my skin graph to heal. I had to do a uniwrap for 6 weeks and got my skin back. Now I have pain everyday 365 days a year as it took so long to heal I have extreme nerve damage and blood flow problems. Sometimes I cannot walk. 3 years this month and I am about to go insane. Hope no one ever endures what I am. God Bless Everyone.