Abstract
BACKGROUND: Exertional rhabdomyolysis is a condition resulting from skeletal muscle damage and release of intracellular toxins into the systemic circulation as a consequence of extreme physical effort. With increasing numbers of people partaking in high-intensity workouts, we hypothesized that the rate of presentation of exertional rhabdomyolysis was also increasing. METHODS: All presentations to the Princess Alexandra Hospital emergency department in Brisbane, Australia between March 2005 and December 2016 were identified from the electronic medical record. Records of patients with a serum creatine kinase value >1,000 U/L or a urinary myoglobin >5 mg/L were extracted for determination of whether the rhabdomyolysis was attributable to physical exertion. RESULTS: From a total of 1,957 rhabdomyolysis cases, 89 patients (70.8% male) were identified as having exertional rhabdomyolysis. The frequency of presentation increased from 0.28/10,000 presentations in 2005 to 3.5/10,000 in 2015. Gym-induced exertional rhabdomyolysis was the primary subcategory (53.9%) for these cases, and manual labor was the second most common subcategory (15.7%). CONCLUSION: This study provides evidence for increasing instances of exertional rhabdomyolysis in the Brisbane, Australia metropolitan area and adds to the current knowledge about those who develop exertional rhabdomyolysis. Future studies are warranted to investigate if similar trends are being seen in other regions and to identify the circumstances leading to the presentation. Such knowledge would be valuable for devising strategies to prevent and mitigate injury.