Treatment of Crush Syndrome Patients Following the Great Hanshin Earthquake

Abstract

Five of 8 patients with rhabdomyolysis treated at our hospital following the Great Hanshin Earthquake were diagnosed with crush syndrome. One patient with crush syndrome and 3 patients with rhabdomyolysis and no renal dysfunction recovered with conservative therapy, while 1 crush syndrome patient recovered with peritoneal dialysis (PD). Of the 3 patients who died, 2 had undergone continuous arterio-venous hemofiltration (CAVH). We examined the laboratory data to identify any factors that may be prognostic for crush syndrome. The serum amylase levels were significantly higher and the levels of aspartate transaminase (AST) and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH) tended to be higher from the patients who died. Examination of the serum amylase, AST and LDH levels may be useful for assessing the prognosis in patients with crush syndrome.