Journal of Sports Science and Medicine
Pre, during, and post exercise anterior tibial compartment pressures in long distance runners
Abstract: The aim of the study was to assess pre, during, and postexercise compartment pressures in the anterior tibial compartment in asymptomatic long distance runners (5000 m) and recreational athletes. Forty-eight participants (n = 48, 24 females and 24 males) underwent the experimental procedures. The participants were assigned into 4 groups of 12 volunteers. Intracompartmental pressures measurements were recorded 1 minute before, at the 1st minute after the onset of exercise, and finally 5 minutes after the completion of the exercise on treadmill. The wick catheter technique was the method of choice for measuring intracompartmental pressure values. Post hoc analysis of the groups by measures interaction indicated that all pairwise comparisons among pre-test (1 minute before exercise), during-test (1st minute during exercise), and post-test measures (5 minutes after exercise) were statistically significant for male controls (p < .001), male athletes (p < .001), female controls (p < .001) and female athletes (p < .001). The results confirm the correlation between long distance runners and the increased risk of chronic exertional compartment syndrome (CECS) development.