I went into the exam room and Dr. L and his PA came into the room and applied betadine to my bilateral legs on the lateral side of the leg near my calf. Then after Dr. L calibrated the machine he inserted the needle into my muscle compartments and measured the pressures. Here is the procedure being done on someone else.
After measuring the pressures in both of my legs at rest, I put my hat and gloves on and proceeded to go for a run in 14 degree temps and icy conditions. If there is any doubt that I want my legs fixed, then my commitment to running in those conditions should prove it!! I ran for about 8 minutes. My symptoms began occurring at the 4 min mark, but I pushed it a little longer since I was a 1/4 mi away from the hospital. When I got back, I jumped up on the table, pulled up my pant leg and the whole procedure occurred again.
Normal pressures in the muscle compartments of the lower leg are less than 10mm HG at rest. After exercise they should not increase very much. Any reading over 30mm HG is indicative of Compartment Syndrome. Dr. L was surprised when mine were in the mid 20's on both legs at rest. After I came back from the run and the test was completed the results were much higher. The Anterior Compartment in both of my legs had readings in the mid 40 range. My lateral compartment in my left leg was 66 and in my right leg it was 88. Dr. L was surprised at how high these were. I was just glad that I was not crazy or being a wimp.
Surgery is scheduled for April 11th. I am having both legs done. Dr. L thinks I am crazy (he prefers one leg at a time) but I just want to get it over with and I can take the pain.
For more information on CECS check out these links:
http://edition.cnn.com/HEALTH/library/DS/00789.html
Here is a link to what they actually do during surgery.
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