Study designs of evaluations included in the review
Studies with a prospective design were eligible for inclusion. One included study was blinded; the remainder were not. No other details of the designs of the included studies were reported
Specific interventions included in the review
Studies that reported using clinical findings (pain, paresthesia, pain with passive stretch, and paresis) to diagnose compartment syndrome were eligible for inclusion.
Reference standard test against which the new test was compared
No inclusion criteria for the reference standard were specified. Some of the included studies used tissue pressure measurements as the reference standard for diagnosing compartment syndrome, while others used a combination of tissue pressure measurements and clinical findings.
Participants included in the review
Studies of individuals with traumatic or iatrogenic lower leg injuries were eligible for inclusion. The patients needed to be alert and able to respond in areas of the clinical findings. No further details of the study participants were reported.
Outcomes assessed in the review
Studies that provided the data necessary to calculate the sensitivity and specificity of reported pain, paresthesia, pain with passive stretch, and paresis were eligible for inclusion.
How were decisions on the relevance of primary studies made?
The author did not state how the papers were selected for the review, or how many reviewers performed the selection.