Rhabdomyolysis may be caused by any one of a variety of means. Essentially, any situation causing muscle tissue destruction has the potential to be a rhabdomyolysis cause. These are considered to be either physical or non-physical causes. Rhabdomyolysis brought on by physical causes tends to be restricted to one region of the patient's body, whereas non-physical rhabdomyolysis typically harms all of the body's muscles at once.

Physical rhabdomyolysis causes

Traumatic muscle compression - car accident, crush syndrome, fixed position confinement, physical abuse, etc.

Blood supply to muscle obstruction - arterial thrombosis, artery clamping, embolism, reduced blood supply (in shock or sepsis), etc.

Excessive strain or activity in muscles - Alcohol withdrawal (delirium tremens), extreme physical exercise (especially if the patient is has poor hydration), persistent seizures (status epilepticus, SE), tetanus, etc.

Electrical shock - high voltage electric shock (including electroshock weapons), lightning, etc.

Non-physical rhabdomyolysis causes

Autimmune muscle damage - dermatomyositis, polymyositis, etc.

Disturbances of electrolytes or metabolism - hypernatremia and hyponatremia (sodium), hypocalcemia (calcium), hypokalemia (potassium), hypophosphatemia (phosphate), hypothyroidism, increased plasma osmolality, ketoacidosis, etc.

Infections - Coxsackie virus, herpes virus, Legionella pneumophila, malaria (Plasmodium falciparum), Salmonella, tularemia (Francisella tularensis), etc.

Muscle energy supply disorders - carnitine palmitoyltransferase I deficiency or primary carnitine deficiency (CPT type I or II), McArdle's disease, mitochondrial respiratory chain defects, phosphofructokinase deficiency, VLCAD deficiency, etc.

Poisons and toxins - foodborne toxins (such as coturnism), heavy metal, venom, etc.

Use or abuse of some drugs and medications.