Treatments & Outcome of Rhabdomyolysis

Rhabdomyolysis is a complex condition that can lead to severe kidney damage or complete kidney failure. It affects roughly 1 in 10,000 Americans and is responsible for as much as 15 percent of all cases of acute renal failure. Although recovery from rhabdomyolysis can be complete, your chances for a successful outcome depend directly on how quickly the condition is diagnosed and treated.

Understanding a Dangerous Ailment

• The circumstances leading to rhabdomyolysis begin when damaged skeletal muscle tissue releases a protein pigment called myoglobin into the bloodstream. When it passes from the bloodstream to the kidneys, myoglobin breaks down into compounds that block the kidneys' internal structures and causes progressive damage. In addition to myoglobin, injured skeletal muscles may also leak a high volume of fluid into the bloodstream; this can cause an overall depletion of your body fluids, leading to shock and even further kidney damage.

The Need for Rapid Treatment

• Symptoms of rhabdomyolysis include general weakness, dark or red urine and muscle tenderness, pain, stiffness or weakness. If you experience these symptoms, let your doctor know immediately. Rapid diagnosis is imperative. Delaying treatment in any way can increase the extent of overall kidney damage. In extreme cases, the result can be death from total kidney failure.

  If you are experiencing rhabdomyolysis, there is a good chance you are already in serious health crisis, be it from traumatic physical injury, drug overdose, heat stroke or other causes. While treatment for this primary crisis should continue, active treatment of rhabdomyolysis is no less important to your long-term survival.

The Focus of Treatment

• The main focus in your treatment should be an aggressive effort to raise your body fluid levels. To flush the myoglobins from your kidneys, you may require a fluid intake equivalent to that of a person with severe burns. Typically, an intravenous line (IV) is used to achieve this result. Along with supplying fluid intake, your doctor will also make sure you are passing adequate amounts of myoglobin-containing urine. He may administer diuretics toward this aim.

Potential Complications and Prognosis

• A large part of your doctor's treatment will involve safeguarding you against the development of certain common complications. Among these potential complications is a condition called hyperkalemia, which occurs when too much potassium is present in the bloodstream. Usually, excess potassium is filtered through the kidneys, but this can be made difficult or impossible when rhabdomyolysis is also present. Hyperkalemia can lead to cardiac arrest, and your doctor should keep watch for the heartbeat irregularities and slow pulse that can signal its occurrence. Rhabdomyolysis may also result in hypocalcemia, or low blood calcium, which can lead to seizures, spasms and abnormal heart rhythm.

  The ultimate complication from rhabdomyolysis is renal failure. If your kidneys begin to fail, your doctor will put you on dialysis to temporarily take over their function. Frequently, this is sufficient to get you through short-term crisis and allow your body to heal any muscle damage. If this and other treatments are successful, your chances for recovery are excellent. If, however, your kidneys have been damaged permanently, you may require dialysis long-term. In those relatively few cases where acute renal failure occurs, you may require a kidney transplant to regain substantial good health.