A 40-year-old female with a crush injury where her legs were trapped for 3 hours should make you suspect which electrolyte disturbance?

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Multiple Choice

A 40-year-old female with a crush injury where her legs were trapped for 3 hours should make you suspect which electrolyte disturbance?

Prolonged crush injuries cause extensive muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis), which releases large amounts of intracellular potassium into the bloodstream. This rapid potassium release leads to hyperkalemia, a dangerous condition because it can cause life-threatening cardiac rhythm problems. In a patient with several hours of leg entrapment, hyperkalemia is the most likely electrolyte disturbance to suspect, and you’d expect to see ECG changes and monitor potassium levels closely. Treating it promptly—stabilizing the heart with calcium and then shifting potassium into cells with insulin and glucose or bicarbonate, along with aggressive IV fluids to support clearance—helps prevent serious complications. The other listed disturbances don’t fit the typical immediate effect of crushed muscle injury.

Prolonged crush injuries cause extensive muscle breakdown (rhabdomyolysis), which releases large amounts of intracellular potassium into the bloodstream. This rapid potassium release leads to hyperkalemia, a dangerous condition because it can cause life-threatening cardiac rhythm problems. In a patient with several hours of leg entrapment, hyperkalemia is the most likely electrolyte disturbance to suspect, and you’d expect to see ECG changes and monitor potassium levels closely. Treating it promptly—stabilizing the heart with calcium and then shifting potassium into cells with insulin and glucose or bicarbonate, along with aggressive IV fluids to support clearance—helps prevent serious complications. The other listed disturbances don’t fit the typical immediate effect of crushed muscle injury.

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