Comparison of examination techniques of anterior and posterior compartments of the leg for the diagnosis of deep vein thrombosis: A new examination technique.

Abstract

Several examination techniques have been described for the diagnosis of leg deep vein thrombosis. These previously described examination techniques aim to detect muscle pain that occurs secondary to increased pressure in the posterior compartment of the leg. However, to the best of our knowledge no studies investigated the frequency of muscle pain on the anterior compartment in patients with leg deep vein thrombosis the objective of this study is to investigate the prevalence of muscle pain in the anterior compartment. The patients who were diagnosed with acute deep vein thrombosis were included in this prospective cross-sectional study. Each patient was examined using the techniques that determine the pain on the posterior compartment as well as using the technique we described to detect muscle pain on the anterior compartment. Two hunderd forty three patients were enrolled in the study. Among those, both distal and proximal deep vein thrombosis was present in 128 (52.7%) patients. 75% of them had muscle pain in the anterior compartment. The results suggested that examination of muscle pain in anterior compartment of leg in patients with both proximal and distal deep vein thrombosis can be used as an additional physical examination techniques for early diagnosis.