Rhabdomyolysis Complicating Unrecognized Hypophosphatemia in an Alcoholic Patient

Rhabdomyolysis occurring as a complication of hypophosphatemia has been infrequently described. A 58-year-old male with a history of daily alcohol consumption presented with two generalized tonic clonic seizures secondary to hypovolemic hyponatremia. He was volume-resuscitated, and antiepileptic med...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Deepali Kumar, Finlay A McAlister
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 1999-01-01
Series:Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/1999/376034
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1850234713133809664
author Deepali Kumar
Finlay A McAlister
author_facet Deepali Kumar
Finlay A McAlister
author_sort Deepali Kumar
collection DOAJ
description Rhabdomyolysis occurring as a complication of hypophosphatemia has been infrequently described. A 58-year-old male with a history of daily alcohol consumption presented with two generalized tonic clonic seizures secondary to hypovolemic hyponatremia. He was volume-resuscitated, and antiepileptic medication was administered. After three days of hospitalization, the patient developed severe rhabdomyolysis despite the absence of further seizure activity. Serum phosphate levels were depressed. He was treated with intravenous mannitol, alkaline diuresis, and intravenous and oral phosphate supplementation. He recovered uneventfully. Hypophosphatemia can potentially lead to multisystem organ dysfunction including severe rhabdomyolysis. It is, therefore, important to maintain a low threshold for measuring serum phosphate levels in patients admitted to hospital.
format Article
id doaj-art-0ffceb6a74f741ceb7bb7f56a17ec22f
institution OA Journals
issn 0835-7900
language English
publishDate 1999-01-01
publisher Wiley
record_format Article
series Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
spelling doaj-art-0ffceb6a74f741ceb7bb7f56a17ec22f2025-08-20T02:02:32ZengWileyCanadian Journal of Gastroenterology0835-79001999-01-0113216516710.1155/1999/376034Rhabdomyolysis Complicating Unrecognized Hypophosphatemia in an Alcoholic PatientDeepali Kumar0Finlay A McAlister1The Division of General Internal Medicine, Ottawa Civic Hospital, Ottawa, Ontario, CanadaCentre for Evidence-Based Medicine, Nuffield Department of Medicine, Level 5, John Radcliffe Hospital, Headington, Oxford, UKRhabdomyolysis occurring as a complication of hypophosphatemia has been infrequently described. A 58-year-old male with a history of daily alcohol consumption presented with two generalized tonic clonic seizures secondary to hypovolemic hyponatremia. He was volume-resuscitated, and antiepileptic medication was administered. After three days of hospitalization, the patient developed severe rhabdomyolysis despite the absence of further seizure activity. Serum phosphate levels were depressed. He was treated with intravenous mannitol, alkaline diuresis, and intravenous and oral phosphate supplementation. He recovered uneventfully. Hypophosphatemia can potentially lead to multisystem organ dysfunction including severe rhabdomyolysis. It is, therefore, important to maintain a low threshold for measuring serum phosphate levels in patients admitted to hospital.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/1999/376034
spellingShingle Deepali Kumar
Finlay A McAlister
Rhabdomyolysis Complicating Unrecognized Hypophosphatemia in an Alcoholic Patient
Canadian Journal of Gastroenterology
title Rhabdomyolysis Complicating Unrecognized Hypophosphatemia in an Alcoholic Patient
title_full Rhabdomyolysis Complicating Unrecognized Hypophosphatemia in an Alcoholic Patient
title_fullStr Rhabdomyolysis Complicating Unrecognized Hypophosphatemia in an Alcoholic Patient
title_full_unstemmed Rhabdomyolysis Complicating Unrecognized Hypophosphatemia in an Alcoholic Patient
title_short Rhabdomyolysis Complicating Unrecognized Hypophosphatemia in an Alcoholic Patient
title_sort rhabdomyolysis complicating unrecognized hypophosphatemia in an alcoholic patient
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/1999/376034
work_keys_str_mv AT deepalikumar rhabdomyolysiscomplicatingunrecognizedhypophosphatemiainanalcoholicpatient
AT finlayamcalister rhabdomyolysiscomplicatingunrecognizedhypophosphatemiainanalcoholicpatient