Examining rhabdomyolysis-related acute kidney injury in COVID-19 patients and its comparison to other acute kidney injury types.

Abstract

Rhabdomyolysis (RM) is characterized by disrupting muscle cells and releasing intracellular components into circulation. Some symptoms associated with RM include muscle weakness, discolored urine, and myalgia. RM can be caused by coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) causing exaggerated immune response leading to muscle damage. Acute kidney injury (AKI), when presented with RM, leads to increased mortality. Examining RM-related AKI and its comparison to other AKI types in COVID-19 patients could improve the management of viral infections developing RM and AKI. RM potentially complicated COVID-19 infection course and is a major etiology of AKI. RM-related AKI had higher severity and mortality than other AKI types, with increased hypercoagulopathy and inflammatory markers. Findings also express procalcitonin use in follow-ups with severe COVID-19 patients. Study limitations include small sample size, absence of kidney biopsies, and focus on the first wave of the pandemic, which should be addressed in future research to generate accurate and relevant findings.