Delivery Complicated by Postpartum Hemorrhage and Lower Extremity Compartment Syndrome

Abstract

Extremity compartment syndrome is a rare surgical complication in which increased intracompartmental pressure threatens the viability of the muscular and nervous tissue. We report a case of a delivery complicated by postpartum hemorrhage and a lower extremity compartment syndrome. A multigravida in her late 20s was admitted for induction of labor at 41 weeks of gestation. She underwent a cesarean delivery for a nonreassuring fetal heart rate tracing. The delivery was complicated by severe postpartum hemorrhage due to uterine atony, resulting in a cesarean hysterectomy. The patient developed a lower extremity compartment syndrome and underwent an emergent anterior tibial fasciotomy. Extremity compartment syndrome is rarely encountered in obstetric care; however, there may be an association with severe postpartum hemorrhage.