What Causes Rhabdomyolysis?

Electric Shock Injury

Rhabdomyolysis can be caused by traumatic injuries to a muscle or group of muscles. Injuries from electric shocks seem to be susceptible to the condition. Third-degree burns, as mentioned, and lightning strike injuries are equally susceptible. With an electric shock, the body touches an electrical source of energy, causing energy to flow through part of the body. Injuries from electricity can vary widely depending on the voltage and how much of the body was affected. Low voltage currents with less than five hundred volts don't usually cause serious injury, but currents higher than five hundred volts may cause serious damage to the body's tissues. A low voltage shock that causes no symptoms doesn't usually need medical treatment, but it should be monitored. However, high voltage shocks require emergency medical intervention. Patients may develop rhabdomyolysis because the injury causes the death of muscle tissue, followed by the release of toxins in the blood.

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Venom From Bites

The venom from an insect or snake bite can cause rhabdomyolysis to develop. There have been many documented cases where snakebites caused localized necrosis of the soft tissues around the bite. It's less common for victims to have more extensive muscle damage, but it's not unheard of. When venom leads to muscular damage and necrosis, the dead fibers release toxic chemicals into the blood. The skeletal muscles in mammals appear to respond to myotoxic venom with damage and possibly cell death. Researchers have done studies to try to ascertain exactly how the muscle damage occurs and what parts of the muscle are damaged. The subcellular parts of the muscle fibers seem to be more sensitive to venom, while other parts of the tissue's structure might be untouched entirely.