[Rhabdomyolysis associated with cocaine abuse in a patient with schizophrenia]

Rhabdomyolysis is a syndrome of rapid skeletal muscle breakdown as a result of direct or indirect skeletal muscle injury. An important cause of rhabdomyolysis is the use of hard drugs among which cocaine but also different psychotropic drugs are associated with the development of rhabdomyolysis. The clinical presentation of rhabdomyolysis is diverse and the course can be relatively harmless but also potentially life threatening. Therefore, it is important to recognize rhabdomyolysis in an early stage in order to initiate treatment in a timely manner. We describe a 40-year-old man with schizophrenia who developed rhabdomyolysis after the use of cocaine.