No matter how many definitions of this I read, I don’t grasp what it is.
In: Biology
Best described with an example.
An injury to a persons leg causes swelling. The swelling is extreme and compresses the blood vessels in that area. As a result, blood can no longer travel through this area to the foot. This is compartment syndrome. The compartment part is named because the limb past the injury is an enclosed compartment that is now separate from the rest of the body and cutoff from the body’s blood supply. If the blood supply is not returned (by treating the swelling) the foot will die and may need amputation.
Obviously this is just one example of how it happens and there are many others. But its compartment syndrome is most common in trauma for the reasons above.
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