by AceMedEd

Teach card · keep it in your scrub pocket

Forearm compartment syndrome

Ask after the case (five minutes)

  1. In the debrief, on paper: "Draw me the volar incision. What did we release at the elbow end, along the forearm and at the wrist end?"
  2. Still in the debrief: "Which muscles are classically hit hardest, why, and what did we open to be sure they were decompressed?"
  3. Before you leave: "Which bedside findings told us this was compartment syndrome, and why didn't a normal radial pulse rule it out?"

Point at: the deep flexors (FDP and FPL) once FDS and the median nerve are retracted, and their epimysium.

End of day: "Draw me the incisions: on the cross-section, which fascia each one opens; on the arm, where each one runs." Two minutes, no notes.

Where this kit and your technique differ, yours wins.

Send this to your students

Send it now. They prep alone while they wait, you stay with the patient, and you debrief for five minutes after the case. They won't see these questions.

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Reviewed by Mehdi “AC” Talle, D.O., November 2026. Sources: Netter, Gray's Anatomy and Hoppenfeld's surgical exposures. Teaching schematic, not to scale; anatomy and technique vary. Management and indications are left to you on purpose.