Review
Bench-to-bedside review: Rhabdomyolysis – an overview for clinicians
-
* Corresponding author: Joseph Varon Joseph.Varon@uth.tmc.edu
1 Universidad Autónoma de Tamaulipas School of Medicine, Tampico, México
2 The University of Texas Health Science Center and St Luke's Episcopal Hospital, Houston, Texas, USA
3 Thomas Jefferson University Hospital, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA
Critical Care 2005, 9:158-169 doi:10.1186/cc2978
Published: 20 October 2004Abstract
Rhabdomyolysis ranges from an asymptomatic illness with elevation in the creatine kinase level to a life-threatening condition associated with extreme elevations in creatine kinase, electrolyte imbalances, acute renal failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation. Muscular trauma is the most common cause of rhabdomyolysis. Less common causes include muscle enzyme deficiencies, electrolyte abnormalities, infectious causes, drugs, toxins and endocrinopathies. Weakness, myalgia and tea-colored urine are the main clinical manifestations. The most sensitive laboratory finding of muscle injury is an elevated plasma creatine kinase level. The management of patients with rhabdomyolysis includes early vigorous hydration.