The objective of this study was to examine the effect of position of the
knee and ankle on intracompartmental pressures in the leg. Slit catheters
were introduced bilaterally into all four muscle compartments of the lower
extremities of six healthy volunteers. Intracompartmental pressures were
monitored with the catheters while the ankle joint was passively held in
full dorsiflexion, full plantar flexion, or neutral with the knee flexed 90
or 10 degrees or fully extended. Statistical analysis revealed that
intracompartmental pressure increased significantly in all four
compartments when the ankle was passively dorsiflexed. Pressure in the
superficial posterior and lateral compartments was dependent on knee
position and in the deep posterior and anterior compartments it was
independent of knee position. In addition, pressure in the deep posterior
compartment decreased significantly when the ankle was placed in full
plantar flexion, and that finding was independent of knee position.
Anterior compartment pressure was not significantly elevated by full
passive plantar flexion of the ankle.