Hello I have done a ton of research on lower leg pain and I have read the archives but I have a few questions so any advice would be appreciated.
Ok here goes :
My son is currently 11 years old and about 2 years ago he was really active in sports, wrestling which is a very demanding sport as far as conditioning, running often. I noticed that when I would pick him up from school or practice he would be limping and when I asked him what was wrong he would just say oh my leg hurts so I did not pay too much attention to it until he began coming home crying that his right leg hurt so bad, on the outer side of his calf slightly higher than his ankle bone. So after going to the family practitioner and she order x-rays she sent him to a sports medicine do he then order a ct scan and could see nothing except a possible slight hernia. So then we were sent to surgeon who wanted to sew up the slight opening in the fascia, But because of his age I wanted a second opinion and the next surgeon said it was compartment disorder. So then instead of having an answer I felt like I had two extreme opposites so I took him to a third surgeon for a “tie breaker” diagnosis and she didnt think it was either a hernia or compartment disorder so she sent Him for orthotics, massage therapy, physical therapy and none of these offered any relief. So we went back to see her and she said she would measure his compartment pressure, She said she had never done that before but she would try so I took him in the office and he lay on the table while she inserted the needle and he never made a peep. She couldnt believe it. But she came to the conclusion that his pressure seemed high but maybe not high enough to call it ECSD so try more Physical therapy so now 9 months later and now the pain is in both legs we are frustrated because we have to go back to see the doc tomorrow and are not sure what to do or say, She seems to think he is too young to have compartment disorder but everything I read soumds exactly like what he is complaining about. Is it normal for one leg to hurt first and then a year later the other one begin hurting?
I can not recall what the pressure reading was that she did last time so I am going to ask her tomorrow Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience. It just doesnt seem right for a little boy to be on pain when she goes out to recess and plays with him friends.
Thanks for your time
Hi,
I am only providing my own n=2 experience for myself and my son.
The doctors and specialists will be here shortly. Rroof and company will be waking shortly.
I went thru the exact symptoms as an 11y.o. boy. Growing from 4-8 to 5-6 in 18 mos.
My son is at the same stage, only taller and faster.
I was switching back and forth from club swimming and Little league football, as a 5th grader (10-11yo)
My heels will hurt a tonne at bedrise. limping slow for hour one of a normal day.
after swim team and football practice, I would hobble home.
Quit football, Just swam and rode bike, football’s loss was US Swimming’s gain. And lots of hair conditioner
subsided in 18mos, come age 12, there were other pains, but the limp subsided.
They never fixed myself or my son…we outgrew it in time and made accomodation
The true method of doing the compartment syndrome pressure test is to test the pressue in the compartments at rest, then the patient should hop on the treadmill and run until symptoms appear, and then they should test the pressure again. Many runners will have normal pressure at rest but if they have compartment syndrome the pressure will rise significantly after exercise. I don’t remember the typical values they confirm the diagnosis but if the doctor only checked your sons pressure at rest you can’t rule out compartment syndrome. I would also make sure to find a ortho who has done this procedure before to make sure they are doing it correctly. I’m actually surprised your doctor even had the equipment to do the test if she’d never done it before.
little red is right on. My guess is that you were initially seen by a general surgeon who found the hernia (since that is what they do). 2nd figured compartment syndrome based on clinical history (which is strong for this diagnosis). 3rd doc was what kind? If a general surgeon, I’m also surprised she even had (or got ahold of) a needle pressure tester. But, again, resting pressure may not be elevated until running/exercise. He is a bit young for this, but time to find a sports orthopedist who has done fasciotomies and speak with him/her. Perhaps even a pediatric one if you live in a larger city with a good Children’s hospital.
Good luck!
I also replied about my CS experience on the old threads-
As far as your son being too young for CS- can’t tell you how soon my symptoms started, but i absolutely had them by 6th grade- have quite a few memories of horrible leg pain during track. I’m pretty sure the pain wasn’t equally bad in both legs until sometime in high school, and even then it frequently alternated between which side was worse.
best of luck to you and your son in finding the correct diagnosis
Ziva
Ok well Lets see if I can remember you questions so I can reply to them … You are right the last Doc we saw did not have the needle tester and we had to wait to get it in the office. And she is an Orthopedic surgeon but she said she doesnt ususally see this problem is young boys. So anyway we are going to she her again today so I will post what she has to say Thanks for you time Heidi
Hello I have done a ton of research on lower leg pain and I have read the archives but I have a few questions so any advice would be appreciated.
Ok here goes :
My son is currently 11 years old and about 2 years ago he was really active in sports, wrestling which is a very demanding sport as far as conditioning, running often. I noticed that when I would pick him up from school or practice he would be limping and when I asked him what was wrong he would just say oh my leg hurts so I did not pay too much attention to it until he began coming home crying that his right leg hurt so bad, on the outer side of his calf slightly higher than his ankle bone. So after going to the family practitioner and she order x-rays she sent him to a sports medicine do he then order a ct scan and could see nothing except a possible slight hernia. So then we were sent to surgeon who wanted to sew up the slight opening in the fascia, But because of his age I wanted a second opinion and the next surgeon said it was compartment disorder. So then instead of having an answer I felt like I had two extreme opposites so I took him to a third surgeon for a “tie breaker” diagnosis and she didnt think it was either a hernia or compartment disorder so she sent Him for orthotics, massage therapy, physical therapy and none of these offered any relief. So we went back to see her and she said she would measure his compartment pressure, She said she had never done that before but she would try so I took him in the office and he lay on the table while she inserted the needle and he never made a peep. She couldnt believe it. But she came to the conclusion that his pressure seemed high but maybe not high enough to call it ECSD so try more Physical therapy so now 9 months later and now the pain is in both legs we are frustrated because we have to go back to see the doc tomorrow and are not sure what to do or say, She seems to think he is too young to have compartment disorder but everything I read soumds exactly like what he is complaining about. Is it normal for one leg to hurt first and then a year later the other one begin hurting?
I can not recall what the pressure reading was that she did last time so I am going to ask her tomorrow Just wondering if anyone has had a similar experience. It just doesnt seem right for a little boy to be on pain when she goes out to recess and plays with him friends.
Thanks for your time
I wouldn’t trust any of the people. How someone can make a diagnosis of a compartment syndrome without measuring the pressure is beyond me. Why someone would try to do their first ever pressure measurement on an 11 yo, where the normals are certainly not going to be adult normals I would guess, is mind boggling.
Find a sports (or pediatric) orthopedist who has actually seen some of this stuff in children and is capable of making a complete differential diagnosis and then running the appropriate tests to confirm or eliminate problems. And, I guess it is possible it may simply be growing pains. My mother told me I used to groan in my sleep the year I grew 6 inches.
I cannot offer any other comments except I hope you figure it out; no fun for a kid to not be able to run around and play!
love
tc
ok well after waiting in the docs office for 35 minutes she came in and said “well your leg is still bothering you?” My son told her that now the opposite leg hurts in the exact same place and the same pain or pressure feeling and that he was unable to go to wrestling because his leg pain was so intense the other day. She said "well I guess it is time to send you to a pediatric orthopod so now i guess we wait till they call us and make an appointment, the nearest is 2 hours from our home. But when I asked her what his pressure number was when she did the test she said she couldnt remember but that she doubted it was compartment syndrome because of his age and that it is now in both legs, so we will see because alot of the information i have read says that it is normal to have it in both legs. so all i know is it breaks my heart to see him limping every time he tried to go play football in the yard with his friends. Heidi
Wow. When I initially read this thread I was going to reply something like, “Oh, when I was a kid I had leg aches too… it will likely pass as he gets older.”
After reading through the lengths to which you’ve already gone to diagnose the issue I cancel my “adolescent leg/growing pain” amateur diagnosis.
This sounds like a potentially more involved problem. My primary reason for responding to your thread was to say you are doing a nice job of taking care of the young lad and looking after his issues. Well done. He’s in good hands. It speaks well of you as a parent.
Actually, as you said it is not all that uncommon where runners develop compartment syndrome in both legs. From what you have said so far I am really unimpressed with this doctor and would run qiuckly to another! She doesn’t really seem to be very knowledgable and that would really concern me! I really hope you and your son are able to find some answers soon. I feel for you since I had a leg issue for the past 5 years that I finally got a diagnosis for. It took a really long time for doctors to take me seriously that something more then some soft tissue thing was going on. My issue ended up being vascular and fairly serious and requires surgery to fix … so keep being persistent!
On the right track seeing a pediatric orthopedist as I mentioned. Sorry, that it is so far away. I would call the office and get the encounter sheet filled out prior to your visit and have all of your other office notes together and fax over a copy before your visit (also bring a copy as you can’t be sure that he/she will see it prior to your visit). Can save some time since your 4 hour round trip won’t likely net you as much time as you would like. But when pts send over notes and have seen 3 different physicians prior, I (and most) tend to look a little more closely. Also saves me ordering certain tests, etc.
Good luck!
First off, we all sympathize - these can be very frustrating problems and even disturbing when they involve a child. rroof makes excellent suggestions to call ahead to the referral doc, have office notes, radiology interpretations, etc there. While you shouldn’t put alll your eggs in the compartment synd basket based on thie history available; do ensure that the pedi orthopod is comfortable with the diagnosis and specific testing protocols as alluded to above. Some pedi pods may even specialize within their subspecialty (scoliosis/spine, hip dysplasia, etc) and do less general, sports, etc. Best wishes.