Understanding the syndrome, complications and nursing considerations IntroductionMild muscle pain can be a common side effect of physical means, such as strenuous workouts, overuse of muscles and/or blood vessels blocked, or by chemical means, such as toxins, heat or drugs. Often, people who suffer from muscle pain can easily pinpoint the cause through their knowledge of the stress, tension or physical activity they have endured. Rhabdomyolysis, or skeletal muscle breakdown, is a syndrome caused by injury to skeletal muscle and involves the leakage of large quantities of potentially toxic intracellular contents into the plasma (Muscal, 2013). Unlike mild muscle pain, rhabdomyolysis, commonly known as “Rhabdo,” can result in life-threatening renal failure and disseminated intravascular coagulation (DIC), despite being multifactorial in adult patients (Muscal, 2013). Approximately 28-37% of all rhabdomyolysis cases in the United States require short-term hemodialysis (Melli G, 2013). The purpose of this article is to explore the causes, signs and symptoms, nursing considerations, and training trends that are blamed for inducing "rhabdomyolysis" in athletes. Rhabdomyolysis According to the National Discharge Survey, there are approximately 26,000 cases of rhabdomyolysis reported worldwide. in the United States every year (Melli G, 2013). 60% of these cases in adults include multiple factors such as trauma and compression leading to direct muscle injury, occlusion of vessels from thromboemboli or surgical clamping, prolonged immobilization, burns and fractures. However, rhabdomyolysis in pediatric patients is often caused by infections, trauma, metabolic conditions, and muscle diseases. (Mannix R,...... at the center of the article......ry and rhabdomyolysis. Crit Care Clin. Jan 2004;20(1):171-92.Mannix R, Tan ML, Wright R, Baskin M Acute pediatric rhabdomyolysis: causes and rates of renal failure 84(6):377-85.Muscal, E. (2013, September 16). Retrieved from Medscape: http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1007814 -overview.Ray, M. (2010, January). The truth about rhabdomyolysis. Retrieved from The CrossFit Journal: http://journal.crossfit.com/2010/01/rhabdo-pdf.tpl#featureArticleTitle Sauret, J.M. (2002, March 1). : http://www.aafp.org/afp/2002/0301/p907.htmlVanholder R, Sever MS, Erek E, Lameire N. Rhabdomyolysis J Am Soc Nephrol 2000;11(8):1553-61.