A compartment syndrome developed in eleven patients who had undergone
the Hauser procedure. The residual disabilities ranged from mild weakness
and contracture of the muscles in the anterior compartment of the leg to
complete muscle necrosis necessitating above-the knee amputation in two
patients. Dissections of ten cadaver limbs demonstrated that the anterior
tibial recurrent vessels have numberous leash-like branches that terminate
along the lateral border of the tibial tubercle. When these vessels are
sectioned they retract laterally and distally under the fascia and within
the muscles of the anterior compartment. It is postulated that continued
postoperative bleeding from these vessels after the Hauser procedure may
lead to an ischemic compartment syndrome in the leg.