A nurse is caring for a patient who recently had surgery to set a fracture and now has his extremity casted. Which of these nursing examinations is not typically utilized to assess for compartment syndrome?

Compartment syndrome is a medical emergency that requires early detection and intervention to prevent permanent disability. It can occur for various reasons, but the underlying problem is that there is an increase of pressure within the muscular compartment that occludes blood flow to the extremity. In addition to a patient’s subjective complaints of increasing or excruciating pain, the nursing assessment should include a circulatory, neurologic and passive movement exam of the affected extremity. There will be evidence of diminished circulation (pallor, decreased/absent pulses, coolness, etc.) as well as abnormal neurologic signs (paresthesias, numbness, paralysis, etc.) and passive movement/stretching of the affected limb with increase the patients level of pain. Assessment of motor strength is not typically used to make this diagnosis.