Hand Surgeon Questions Compartment Syndrome

ā€œMy mother suffered from compartment syndrome. Is it hereditary?ā€

My mother was diagnosed with compartment syndrome at the age of 67. Is it a hereditary condition? Can you tell me the ways in which this can be prevented?

6 Answers

There is a trend that CTS is genetic (kinda how we are built).
Most compartment syndromes are as a result of severe trauma and would not be hereditary in this case. There can be non-traumatic compartment syndromes causing overuse type pain also, but those are much less common.
Compartment syndrome is not hereditary. It usually occurs after an injury. There are other causes which are less common. The only way to prevent compartment syndrome is to prevent the injury that would subsequently result in compartment syndrome.
Compartment syndrome results when muscles have increased internal pressure within their fibrous coverings or compartments such that the blood flow to the muscle is restricted. This typically occurs from trauma or from chronic exertion, but trauma is the typical scenario. Iā€™m not aware of any hereditary component in most typical compartment syndrome unless there is a hereditary tendency for blood to be thinner and more prone to exacerbate an ongoing problem. In those cases, the person would most likely know about the hereditary risk for having thinner blood or blood not clotting as well as normal.
What kind of compartment syndrome?
No. Compartment syndrome is not hereditary. However, carpal tunnel syndrome is to an extent. There is no reliable way to prevent it.

Harrison Solomon, M.D.