Tea-colored urine in a crush injury most strongly suggests risk of which complication?

Tea-colored urine in a crush injury most strongly suggests risk of which complication?

• A. Hematuria
• B. Acute kidney injury due to myoglobin (rhabdomyolysis)
• C. Urinary tract infection
• D. Pyelonephritis

Answer: (B)

When muscle tissue is damaged in a crush injury, broken muscle cells release myoglobin into the bloodstream. Myoglobin is filtered by the kidneys, and in large amounts it can accumulate in the renal tubules, causing obstruction and direct toxicity. This leads to acute kidney injury from rhabdomyolysis. The tea-colored urine is a clue that myoglobin is present in the urine (myoglobinuria), not just blood, and it signals this high-risk complication. Urinary tract infections or pyelonephritis are infectious processes that don’t arise directly from muscle crush injury in the same immediate, mechanism-driven way. Hematuria can darken urine, but the pigment-related kidney injury from myoglobinuric rhabdomyolysis is the strongest and most direct risk in this scenario.

When muscle tissue is damaged in a crush injury, broken muscle cells release myoglobin into the bloodstream. Myoglobin is filtered by the kidneys, and in large amounts it can accumulate in the renal tubules, causing obstruction and direct toxicity. This leads to acute kidney injury from rhabdomyolysis. The tea-colored urine is a clue that myoglobin is present in the urine (myoglobinuria), not just blood, and it signals this high-risk complication. Urinary tract infections or pyelonephritis are infectious processes that don’t arise directly from muscle crush injury in the same immediate, mechanism-driven way. Hematuria can darken urine, but the pigment-related kidney injury from myoglobinuric rhabdomyolysis is the strongest and most direct risk in this scenario.