Citation Nr: 18106962 Decision Date: 06/01/18 Archive Date: 05/31/18 DOCKET NO. 15-04 024A DATE: June 1, 2018 ORDER Entitlement to service connection for bilateral lower extremity compartment syndrome is granted. FINDING OF FACT The Veteran's chronic bilateral lower extremity compartment syndrome had its onset during service. CONCLUSION OF LAW The criteria for service connection for bilateral lower extremity compartment syndrome have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5103A, 5107 (2012); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303 (2017). REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION The Veteran served on active duty from November 1991 to August 2012. This appeal to the Board of Veterans' Appeals (Board) is from a March 2014 rating decision of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Regional Office (RO). The Veteran testified during a Central Office Board hearing in January 2017. A transcript of this hearing is of record. Entitlement to service connection for bilateral lower extremity compartment syndrome. The Veteran contends that her bilateral lower extremity compartment syndrome is related to service. Service connection may be granted for a disability resulting from disease or injury incurred in or aggravated by service. 38 U.S.C. § 1110; 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). Service connection may also be granted for any disease diagnosed after discharge when all of the evidence establishes that the disease was incurred in service. 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(d). To prevail on the issue of service connection, there must be (1) medical evidence of a current disability; (2) medical, or in certain circumstances, lay evidence of in-service incurrence or aggravation of a disease or injury; and (3) medical evidence of a nexus between the claimed in-service disease or injury and the current disability. See Hickson v. West, 12 Vet. App. 247, 253 (1999). The Board find that the Veteran has a current diagnosis of bilateral lower extremity compartment syndrome that began during active service. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 5107(b); Holton v. Shinseki, 557 F.3d 1363, 1366 (Fed. Cir. 2009); 38 C.F.R. § 3.303(a). A March 2015 post service treatment record shows the Veteran has a current diagnosis of bilateral lower extremity compartment syndrome. See July 2015 Medical Treatment record – Government Facility. In contrast, the July 2012 VA examination noted that the Veteran reported an onset of symptoms in 2006, but found she did not currently have a muscle injury; in the absence of any pathology the physician did not diagnose compartment syndrome. See August 2012 C&P Exam. Both clinicians are competent to diagnose the claimed disability and both are credible. However, after considering the other evidence of record the Board finds the March 2015 diagnosis is more probative. The physician also reviewed the Veteran’s service treatment records and not only noted that the in-service diagnosis of compartment syndrome was based on complaints and testing, but that there had also been an exhaustive workup to rule out other possible etiologies. See July 2015 Medical Treatment record – Government Facility. There is also evidence to suggest that the in-service disorder did not resolve, which makes the current diagnosis more probative. The Veteran's bilateral lower extremity compartment syndrome is well documented in service treatment records. Her symptoms were present for several years prior to being diagnosed in 2010. The disorder was not only characterized as chronic, but the physical profile and recurrences shown also establish that the disorder is chronic. Furthermore, an April 2012 service treatment record indicates the disorder was not likely to improve without surgical intervention. See June 2012 STR – Medical, May 2014 Medical Treatment record – Government Facility, and Hearing Testimony. The Veteran is not shown to have had surgery. Although the record does not contain any nexus opinion between the in-service compartment syndrome and current post service compartment syndrome, the totality of the evidence indicates an onset during service that has been ongoing and has not resolved. The fact that the April 2012 service treatment record indicated the compartment syndrome would not likely improve without surgery and the fact that she did not have surgery and continues to have a diagnosis is highly probative of an onset during service. (Continued on the next page)   While further development could be accomplished to obtain a nexus opinion, the Board finds there is ample evidence of record trigger the benefit-of-the-doubt doctrine. Accordingly, service connection for bilateral lower extremity compartment syndrome is warranted. S. HENEKS Veterans Law Judge Board of Veterans’ Appeals ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD D. Bredehorst