A 25-year-old man presents with a blue right arm with absent radial pulse and painful passive finger extension following a supracondylar fracture of humerus. He is suffering from:

Ans. C. Compartment syndromeFracture can lead to ischemia in the distal limb by direct injury to the blood vessel or by the effect of oedema increasing the pressure within the osteo fascial compartment which limits perfusion. In compartment syndrome, the increased pressure can lead to profound ischemia with necrosis of muscle and nerve tissue. This is a surgical emergency requiring prompt decompression by open fasciotomy. Once muscle tissue dies it is replaced by inelastic fibrous tissue giving rise to the complication of Volkmann's ischaemic contracture.