Postoperative changes in serum creatine kinase in paediatric orthopaedic patients with preoperative hyperCKaemia: review of three cases

Abstract

An elevated serum creatine kinase (CK) level is commonly known as hyperCKaemia, and anaesthesiologists must take into account the potential susceptibility of hyperCKaemia patients to develop malignant hyperthermia during general anaesthesia as well as acute onset of rhabdomyolysis postoperatively. Three paediatric patients with hyperCKaemia were scheduled for orthopaedic surgery. With the consent of their parents, their CK changes were monitored for seven days postoperatively to detect rhabdomyolysis. The results showed that the postoperative CK change patterns were almost the same as those for patients whose CK levels were within reference range. Maximum CK levels tended to be higher in these patients than in the CK reference-range patients studied previously, although the reason remains unclear. This experience and previous studies suggest that measuring CK levels at least on postoperative days 1 and 2 might be better for detecting early signs of rhabdomyolysis, even in paediatric patients with hyperCKaemia.