Major urologic surgery performed in the lithotomy position sometimes results in the serious complication of rhabdomyolysis.
A 56-year-old man was admitted to the hospital for prostate adenocarcinoma. A whole-body bone scan was performed to exclude bony metastases, which demonstrated no bone lesions but showed intense soft-tissue activity in gluteus maximus muscles, findings suggestive of a myopathy. He had just undergone right nerve-sparing radical prostatectomy in the lithotomy position for 6 hours and presented with swollen bilateral thighs. Elevation of creatine kinase level confirmed muscle injury.
Written by:
Yang RH, Chu YK, Huang CW Are you the author?
From the Department of Nuclear Medicine, Taipei Veterans General Hospital, Taipei, Taiwan, Republic of China
Reference: Clin Nucl Med. 2013 May;38(5):365-6
doi: 10.1097/RLU.0b013e318286808e
PubMed Abstract
PMID: 23429389
