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Electrical weapons and rhabdomyolysis

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Abstract

It has been suggested that an application of a conducted electrical weapon (CEW) might cause muscle injury such as rhabdomyolysis and an acute inflammatory response. We explored this hypothesis by testing the effects of electrical weapons on circulating markers of inflammation and muscle damage. In a prospective study, 29 volunteers received a full-trunk 5-s TASER® X26(E) CEW exposure. Venous blood samples were taken before, 5 min after, and at 24 h following the discharge. We tested for changes in serum levels of C-reactive protein (CRP), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), myoglobin, albumin, globulin, albumin/globulin ratio, aspartate and alanine aminotransferase, creatine kinase, total protein, bilirubin, and lactic acid dehydrogenase. Uncorrected CRP and myoglobin levels were lower in the immediate post exposure period (CRP levels 1.44 ± 1.39 v 1.43 ± 1.32 mg/L; p = 0.046 and myoglobin 36.8 ± 11.9 v 36.1 ± 13.9 μg/L; p = 0.0019) but these changes were not significant after correction for multiple comparisons. There were no changes in other biomarkers. At 24 h, CRP levels had decreased by 30% to 1.01 ± 0.80 mg/L (p = 0.001 from baseline). ALP was unchanged immediately after the CEW application but was reduced by 5% from baseline (66.2 ± 16.1 to 62.7 ± 16.1 IU/L; p = 0.0003) at 24 h. No other biomarkers were different from baseline at 24 h. A full-trunk electrical weapon exposure did not lead to clinically significant changes in the acute phase protein levels or changes in measures of muscle cellular injury. We found no biomarker evidence of rhabdomyolysis.

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Funding

US Joint Non-lethal Weapons Directorate. Contract/PR No. W911QY-08-C-0023.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Minnesota, Box 23, Crystal Bay, MN, 55323, USA

    Mark W. Kroll

  2. Leeds Inst. of Cardiovascular and Metabolic Medicine, University of Leeds, Leeds, LS2 9JT, UK

    Klaus K. Witte

  3. Edina, USA

    Mollie B. Ritter

  4. Institute for Forensic Medicine, University Hospital Ulm, Ulm, Germany

    Sebastian N. Kunz

  5. Holy Cross Hospital, 4725 N. Federal Hwy, Ft. Lauderdale, FL, 33308, USA

    Richard M. Luceri

  6. Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA

    John C. Criscione

Authors
  1. Mark W. Kroll
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  2. Klaus K. Witte
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  3. Mollie B. Ritter
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  4. Sebastian N. Kunz
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  5. Richard M. Luceri
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Correspondence to Mark W. Kroll.

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Potential conflicts of interest

MWK is a member of the Axon [né TASER] Scientific and Medical Advisory Board (SMAB) and corporate board. RML is a SMAB member and consultant to Axon. SNK is a SMAB member. KKW, MBR, and JCC declare no conflicts. MWK and RML have served as litigation or inquest experts in multiple countries.

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Informed consent was obtained from all participants included in the study.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Kroll, M.W., Witte, K.K., Ritter, M.B. et al. Electrical weapons and rhabdomyolysis. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 17, 58–63 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-020-00311-7

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