Endoscopic-assisted Release of Lower Leg Chronic Exertional Compartment Syndromes: Results of a Systematic Literature Review.

Endoscopic treatment of recalcitrant chronic exertional compartment syndromes (CECS) of the lower leg is rarely reported. Until now, endoscopic release of CECS of the lower leg is described in only 3 papers addressing 48 interventions in 30 patients. A systematic literature analysis was performed comparing endoscopic and minimally invasive lower leg CECS releases. No statistically relevant difference was found between the results of endoscopic (unweighted mean success rate=86.3%) and minimally invasive (unweighted mean success rate=80.0%) CECS release. However, the methodological quality of the analyzed studies is not sufficient and the number of endoscopically treated patients are too low to draw final conclusions.