Features of acute compartment syndrome
The 5 Ps
Needs urgent fasciotomy. Do not wait for all five signs.
Pulselessness and paralysis are late signs, and pulses are often present in compartment syndrome. Pain on passive stretch is the earliest reliable sign.
Teaching aid, still awaiting independent review. Confirm facts in a standard source.
The 5 Ps. It helps you recall: Features of acute compartment syndrome.
Pulselessness
P: Pain, out of proportion and on passive stretch; P: Pallor; P: Paraesthesia; P: Paralysis; P: Pulselessness.
It belongs to Trauma in Orthopaedics.
Pulselessness and paralysis are late signs, and pulses are often present in compartment syndrome. Pain on passive stretch is the earliest reliable sign.
Needs urgent fasciotomy. Do not wait for all five signs.
Say it aloud, write it from memory tomorrow, then again in a week. Then test yourself on a Orthopaedics question about Trauma.
It is a teaching aid written or adapted by our team. Some resemble ones students share informally. Check any fact that matters in a standard source.