Functional Popliteal Artery Entrapment Syndrome: Poorly Understood and Frequently Missed? A Review of Clinical Features, Appropriate Investigations, and Treatment Options

Table 1

Differential diagnosis and clinical features of exertional leg pain.

Condition	Incidence	Male/female preponderance	Unilateral/bilateral; tendency	Site of pain	Pain present at rest	Pattern of pain
MTSS	13–42%	Possibly female	Bilateral	Posteromedial tibial border	Yes (on palpation)	Pain with activity can warm up and returns on cessation
Stress fracture	Unknown; (0.7–20% exercising population)	Possibly female	Unilateral	Variable depending on site of stress fracture	Yes (on palpation)	Pain with impact activity
CECS	27–33%	Nil	Bilateral	Typically anterior and/or deep posterior compartments	No	Crescendo-decrescendo pattern: pain can last for minutes to hours on cessation
PAES; (anatomical)	0.6–3.5%; (rare)	Possibly male	Possibly unilateral	Typically superficial posterior compartment	Can be at rest (positional)	Crescendo-decrescendo pattern: pain can last for seconds to minutes on cessation
PAES; (functional)	Unknown; (possibly common and underrecognized)	Possibly female	Likely bilateral	Typically superficial posterior compartment	Can be at rest (positional)	Crescendo-decrescendo pattern: pain can last for seconds to minutes on cessation