Rhabdomyolysis

Rhabdomyolysis is an acute skeletal-muscle injury syndrome. When muscle membranes fail, creatine kinase, myoglobin, potassium, phosphate, and other intracellular substances enter the circulation. The nurse’s priorities follow that release: identify ongoing muscle injury and its cause, support renal perfusion with carefully titrated crystalloid, detect potassium-driven dysrhythmia, and look for compartment syndrome or fluid-overload pulmonary edema. A high CK establishes muscle injury in the right clinical context; it does not by itself determine the patient’s fluid needs or replace assessment of kidney function and electrolytes. The treatment target is a safe physiologic response, not a fixed fluid volume or an automatic bicarbonate infusion.