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Although well-known as a complication of other hypoxic conditions such as near drowning, status asthmaticus and carbon monoxide poisoning, rhabdomyolysis has not been reported in patients with hanging. The authors report a case of partial hanging complicated by rhabdomyolysis and acute kidney injury.

Background

Rhabdomyolysis is an emergency condition which can arise from a multitude of aetiologies.1 Regardless of the cause, the end result is the widespread disintegration of striated muscle, flooding the extracellular milieu with various ions and molecules that are normally restricted to the intracellular compartment, including potassium and phosphate ions and myoglobin. In turn, myoglobin can precipitate within renal tubules resulting in acute renal failure.

This case highlights rhabdomyolysis as a potential complication of hanging. It underscores the central role of hypoxia in the pathogenesis of rhabdomyolysis regardless of the mechanism by which hypoxia is produced.